HEARTS ON FIRE

Fire Rainbow, Jamestown, NC

There are a variety ways that we human beings can be jolted out of the ordinary and become inspired! There is that “aha!” creative moment like Archimedes experienced after he stepped into his bath and realized that he could measure the volume of irregular objects by immersing them and recording the displacement of water. He was so excited about his inspired discovery that he ran naked through the streets of Syracuse shouting “Eureka!” There’s artistic inspiration that is translated into great art such as Rembrandt’s painting depicting an angel whispering into The Evangelist Matthew’s ear as he writes his gospel. That is a very imaginative creation, but perhaps not a very realistic one. Martin Luther didn’t consider that Scripture was dictated, but that the knowledge of salvation prompted writers to express divine truth and knowledge of God in a form of human understanding. The Biblical inspiration of the Holy Spirit prompted fallible Christian followers like Matthew to draw inspiration from their own time and experience to write the books that are contained in today’s trustworthy Bible.

The apostle Luke records an account of sacred inspiration in chapter 24 about a couple walking along the road to Emmaus shortly after Jesus had been crucified. The travelers on that dusty road were grieving His death and its implications for themselves and their people. Then Jesus joined them and “interpreted for them the things written about himself in all the scriptures, starting with Moses and going through all the Prophets.” After they invited Jesus to dinner and he broke bread with them, “they recognized him, but he disappeared from their sight. They said to each other, ‘Weren't our hearts on fire when he spoke to us along the road and when he explained the scriptures for us?’"

There are many well-meaning folks out there who both deride and defend every written word in the Bible who unfortunately might just have to admit that they’ve never read all of the books it contains from cover to cover. I believe that every generation must read, decipher, understand and act on the relevant words for their time. There have been many disciples over time, but only we can be a disciple for our time. And as the couple on that dusty road to Emmaus found out, it is very enlightening to closely follow every step along The Way to ensure that God is revealing the message you need to hear in a “hearts on fire” moment!