Every Morning — September 4, 2026: The Short Man Hiding in a Tree
Key Scripture
– Luke 19:5—10 (NIV)
“When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, 'Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.' So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, 'He
has gone to be the guest of a sinner.’ But Zacchaeus stood
up and said to the Lord, 'Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.' Jesus
said to him, 'Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of
Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.'"
Devotional
f you were choosing twelve people to help change the world, would you pick the man everybody complained about? Probably not. Yet Jesus had a habit of seeing people differently. Imagine this scene. The streets were full. Everybody wanted Jesus to notice them. Religious leaders were standing close, respectable people were waiting.
Then Jesus stopped. Looked up into a tree, and called the one man nobody expected. "Zacchaeus, come down immediately.”
Excuse me? That man! The tax collector? The one people believed had become rich by cheating others? Yes! That same man. If this happened in Nigeria today, people would say, "Jesus don collect bribe! Of all the people wey dey here, nah Zacchaeus nah him choose?”
But that's exactly the point. Grace rarely goes where pride expects it to go. Grace often begins where human judgment ends. Maybe today you're reading this devotional and you're carrying a past you're ashamed of. Perhaps you've made decisions you wish you could erase. Maybe you've hurt people. Maybe people still remember you for who you used to be. You might have even convinced yourself that God is tired of hearing from you.
Can | tell you something beautiful? Jesus knew everything about Zacchaeus before He called him. Nothing surprised Him. Nothing shocked Him. And still… He called him by name.
Notice that Jesus did not wait for Zacchaeus to become perfect before visiting his house. His kindness came first and the transformation
followed.
Romans 2:4 reminds us that it is God's kindness that leads us to repentance. We don't clean ourselves up so that Jesus will love us. We encounter His love, and His love begins to change us from the inside out. That's exactly what happened to Zacchaeus. No one forced him to repay those he had cheated. No one threatened him. His heart simply changed because he had encountered Jesus.
2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
Child of God, don't let your yesterday become the prison of your today. People may remember your mistakes, but God remembers His mercy. The enemy wants you to believe that your story ended with your worst decision. Jesus says your story can begin again.
So whether you're recovering from addiction, rebuilding your family, carrying secret shame, or simply wondering if God could still use someone like you, hear these words as if Jesus is speaking them personally: "I must stay at your house today.”
Grace is still looking up into trees. Grace is still calling names. And grace is still changing lives.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank You for loving me even when I have fallen short. Help me to receive Your grace with humility and to walk each day as someone You are transforming. Let my life reflect the new beginning You have given me. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Dig Deeper
Luke 19:1-10, Romans 2:1—4, 2 Corinthians 5:17 Ephesians 2:1-10, Psalm 103:8-14
Reading Plan
Today's Reading – Luke 19, Psalm 103, Ephesians 2
Today's Thought
Your past may explain where you've been, but it does not have permission to decide where God can take you.
From Every Morning — September 2026 by Margaret Nwakaego Usio.