DO WE HAVE 'BURNING HEARTS'?

     Last week one morning I read Jeremiah 20:9 where Jeremiah said:

“But his message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones. I become tired of holding it in, and I cannot prevail.”

     Jeremiah was so stirred by the message that God gave to him that it burned in him so much that he could no longer hold it in.

     My pastor a couple Sundays ago preached a sermon entitled “Burning Hearts”. It was based on Luke 24:13-35 about the time after Jesus was crucified on the cross, was buried in a tomb, and Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James the next morning encountered two angels at the tomb who said, “He is not here, but he has risen!” Peter then ran to the tomb and confirmed that all that was in the tomb were Jesus’ burial cloths.

     The story after that was an amazing encounter. If we can, put ourselves in the place of the two followers of Jesus on the seven-mile walk from Jerusalem to Emmaus. Luke wrote that the two men were “discussing and arguing” over the previous day's events. On the long walk, they encountered a man they didn’t recognize and began to talk to him about what happened.

     They were startled that the man questioned about it, and was seemingly “the only visitor in Jerusalem” that didn’t know about the crucifixion of Jesus.

     Imagine again yourself and a friend walking seven miles with this man—SEVEN MILES! Picture the longest walk you have likely ever taken. I can remember my brother and I riding our bicycles from our house on the Charm Road in Holmes County, Ohio five miles south to Charm, Ohio to visit Grandma. That seemed like a long way—and we were on bicycles!

     So, the men didn’t recognize the strange man as they walked, likely up to two and one-half hours according to some sources. Two and one-half hours of walking and talking! Just imagine it for a moment. The man told them toward the end of their seven-mile walk, “How foolish you are, and slow to believe all the prophets have spoken!”

     They noticed something different about this man. So as they approached their home in Emmaus toward “evening”, they urged him to come in and get something to eat and drink after the long walk. Luke wrote that the man “took the bread, blessed it, and gave it to them.” Then their eyes were immediately opened, and they recognized him, but he instantly disappeared from their sight.

     The two men said to each other, “Weren’t our hearts burning within us while he was talking with us on the road and explaining the scripture to us.” They finally realized that the man they spent a couple of hours with was the same Jesus that they began the long walk “discussing and arguing” about.

     They didn’t even take time to sleep that evening. They immediately returned seven miles in the dark back to Jerusalem. Because of their ‘burning hearts,’ they walked another two and one-half hours—or possibly they almost ran, and it took them perhaps one and one-half hours because of their excitement.

     Think of a time that you or I acted off adrenaline. We were so exhilarated by what we were doing that taking time off to rest wasn’t possible. We were likely going to crash later with exhaustion—but for now, we couldn’t stop.

     Following are two questions we need to ask ourselves:

1. “Do you and I have ‘burning hearts’ like the two followers of Jesus on the Emmaus road tell others our wonderful story?”
2. “Do we have ‘burning hearts’ like Jeremiah who tried—but it wasn’t possible—to hold in the message God had for the people?”