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Now comes the wonderful part. After Jesus left they made a surprising statement. Here it is,
And they said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?” (NASB) Luke 24:32 Did you see that? Their hearts were burning within them while Jesus explained the scriptures to them. Why did their hearts burn? Aren’t words just words? What happened to these men? Spoken words do not cause burning inside of a person. There is nothing magical about human language. What happened? The answer is found in their hearts. Their hearts were burning just as the hearts of two lovers burn when words are spoken between them. The hearts of these two disciples were burning because they now knew more about Him. They loved Him!
As The Deer Pants. We see the same passion in Psalm 42:1-2.
As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for Thee, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God . . . (NASB) Ps. 42:1-2 This is the passion of the choir director - a passion to know God. His heart is like a thirsty deer who longs for water, living water, just like the two disciples whose hearts were burning - just like the promise Jesus made about rivers of running water. Is this the passion of your heart - to know Him - to love Him and to know Him more than anyone else, more than your mother, father, spouse, friend, daughter or son?
The Same Desire. What do you think is God’s passion for you? What is God’s great passion for you? Would you like a peek into God’s heart - into His emotions? What does God want most? The answer is found in Jeremiah 9:23-24,
Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me . . . (NASB) Jer. 9:23-24 The great passion of God’s heart is that we will want to know Him. God is talking about more than just our salvation. An understanding of God starts when we begin to trust Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, but there is more than that. He wants us to know all about Him!
Searching. If you have been a Christian for any length of time, you have probably heard again and again that you are supposed to read the Bible in order to know God. You might even remember that as a new Christian, reading the Bible was like eating chocolate. It was wonderful. But that may not be true any more. You know the stories about Adam and Eve, Noah and the flood, Lot’s wife and Sodom and Gomorrah, Moses and Pharaoh, Joshua and the land of Palestine, Samson and the Philistines, David and Goliath, Daniel and the lions den, and Jonah in the great fish. How can you know God more from these stories? |
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| God's Great Passion | |||||
