A consuming fire

Just like the men walking on the road to Emmaus, we don’t know when Jesus will return. They assumed He wasn’t who He said He was because they questioned His Messianic authority. They spoke about Jesus, the wonderful things He did but didn’t recognize the Lord when He was in their midst. When they described the burning in their heart when they heard Jesus speak the Word to them, it made me think of the fire that burns inside of me when the Word is preached to me or when I am reading It for myself. Especially when my eyes are opened to understand the Word in a truthful way.

“Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him.” Luke 24:31

When they recognized Him, that the prophecies came to fulfillment, they experienced a fire within their hearts. We don’t have to see Christ, we can find Him in scripture, which awakens a longing for what God says. We don’t have to see, we can hear, that’s when faith arises. By spending time in His Word our eyes can be opened. His Word is what has the power to transform us. Our priorities change, what drives us changes, what we hunger for, what fulfills us. It’s no longer about us but about Him, His will, His heart. When our heart is consumed by this overwhelming fire, the Spirit of the Lord compels us. We are not longer wandering in the wilderness but running the race set before us.

“So they rose up that very hour.” Luke 24:33

Their hearts burned (Luke 24:32) while the Lord spoke to them. Their eyes were opened to who Jeses was when Jesus broke bread with them. The Spirit revealed to them that He was Christ. It was through His teaching that their hearts burned. Every time I put the focus back on myself, I forgot who God is and just like these men, He has to remind me of the things He has done in the past to wake me back up to His faithfulness, His mercy, His promises and who He is. He is the same today as He was yesterday. Today was my last Sunday at Imago Dei and I had the privilege to listen to the pastor preach one last time. He is kind to print out sermon notes in English for me to follow along. He compared Mount Sinai and Mount Zion. The people of the Old Testament, the Israelites at Sinai were full of sin and impurity and couldn’t bear to hear the Word of God. When sin meets what is holy, it is uncomfortable and rejects the Truth. On the way to Mount Zion, the people’s reaction was anticipation and excitement, wanting to hear more. One mountain is the law, the other is grace. A wonderful mountain of grace where we are humbled in the presence of the One who conquered death for us. Jesus made it possible to have a new access to God. Through our participation, we can worship God with awe and reverence, knowing our God is a consuming fire who burns away the old and purifies.

“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 12:28-29

In Luke, when the men arrived at their village with Jesus, they asked Jesus to “abide” with them and He went and stayed with them. I think it’s so sweet that even though Jesus indicated that He had further to walk, when asked, He abided with these men and stayed with them. It reminds me of how the Word says that when we draw near to God, He will draw near to us. He wants relationship with us, He is just waiting for us to lean in.