Heartburn

I have been reading through the book of Luke lately and yesterday I was able to hear Luke 24 read out loud. This passage is one of my favorites in Scripture and after I heard it read out loud I started crying. Luke 24 is after the death and resurrection of Jesus and two men are having a conversation about the events that have just taken place with Jesus. They are having some trouble realizing everything that Jesus had just accomplished through His death and resurrection and were doubting. Jesus appears to them on the road they are traveling and begins talking with them about the events that have just taken place in Jerusalem. He knows their doubting hearts and explains to them starting with Moses and all the Prophets and taught them through the Scriptures concerning himself. Jesus then goes to eat with these 2 guys, they realize its Jesus, Jesus then disappears. Then the men say in Vs. 32, “They said to each other, did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures.” I love that verse so much because their hearts burned when they heard the fulfillment of Christ and the Gospel explained to them by Christ. Their lives were radically changed from doubting in Jesus to proclaiming the Good news of Christ rising from the dead. I think many times I can become a stale bag of chips, as my brother said in a message one time. I forget the work Jesus has done and how it has changed my life and will change others. I think many times this is why we have such a passionless effort for local and global missions. The Gospel has become stale and something we have forgotten about the Gospel. We have replaced the main thing with minor things in our lives and forgotten about the redeeming work of Christ and our command to bring the good news to the world. I think if we refocus and study Christ in his Word and his plan of redemption through the Bible or hearts will burn for him and a fervor and passion will begin to grow for missions by wanting to bring the Gospel to the nations. I want my heart to burn after I read scripture and I want my actions to back up what I read. May we never forget the power, beauty, and life changing work of the Gospel or we will easily forget about missions and the great commission.