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 opening the Scriptures to us?”
Luke 24:32, LSB
As our Lord confronted Cleopas and another disciple of Jesus on the road to Emmaus, they did not at first recognize Jesus until the breaking of the bread. When we are confronted with the truth of the Gospel and the fire of the Lord enters us, it is through the revelation of the Holy Spirit that our hearts are set afire. It is not work we do, but solely through the power of God that we can know the Gospel fully, and it is a great joy, as a pastor, to witness those flames ignite in a person as his or her eyes are opened to the reality that is Christ our Lord. The transformative power of the Word can move a heart to flame and create a faith so rich and powerful that nothing else can happen. It is our calling as followers of Christ to speak the Word and live it out to kindle the embers and light up the hearts of those whom God has called. It is through our faithfulness in our Bible reading and prayer that we find the sparks that ignite in the dry hearts of those who have been prepared. Let us live in the truth and may our Lord kindle those fires also in us.
Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.