Who do you like?

Jesus,  teach me to wait before deciding if I like someone. Amen!

As Jesus traveled through Jericho, a tax collector named Zacchaeus wanted to see Him. But Zacchaeus was short, so he climbed a tree to watch. Jesus saw him and called, "Zacchaeus, come down! I'm having lunch with you." Zacchaeus happily came, but the crowd grumbled that Jesus would eat with a bad person. Then Zacchaeus told Jesus, "Lord, I'll give half of what I own to the poor, and pay back anyone I cheated." Jesus answered, "Today, you have been saved."

"I don't like you" is a decision a lot of people make too quickly. A kid teases you, and you decide you can't stand him and you'll never speak to him again. The girls you're friends with say another girl is a show-off, so none of you will hang out with her -- ever.

The same thing happened in Jesus' time. People didn't like the fact that tax collectors took too much of their pay, so all tax collectors were hated -- including Zacchaeus, whom we meet in this week's Gospel (Luke 19:1-10).

If you say you don't like someone, it's probably because either they hurt you or a friend, or there's something different about them that you don't like: They're poorer or richer than you; they come from a different kind of family; they have unusual hobbies.

People didn't like Zacchaeus just because they didn't think a good person would be a tax collector. But Jesus saw him as a curious guy who wanted so much to get closer to God that he climbed a tree to see Jesus! Zacchaeus even planned to stop taking people's money. Jesus gave Zacchaeus a chance and saw he was a likeable person.

Lots of people you don't like are the same way. Maybe the girl who shows off is lonely and wants you to notice her; maybe the guy who's always on his computer would be fun to challenge at Nintendo.

Jesus believed in getting to know people before deciding whether He liked them -- and usually, He found something to like in everyone. No wonder He had so many friends!