Our Hearts, Your Home

By this time they were nearing Emmaus and the end of their journey. Jesus acted as if he were going on, but they begged him, “Stay the night with us, since it is getting late.” So he went home with them. —Luke 24:28, 29, NLT

Because we know the story well, our familiarity with it can lead us to miss the power it holds. Whenever we find ourselves skimming over the Word, we need to remember to slow down. To read with intention. Savor the beauty.

Be amazed by its power. David writes of God’s Word as being “sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb” (Psalm 19:10, NLT).

So slow down with me and take a closer look at what happened that night as the two disciples journeyed home from Jerusalem to Emmaus.

They found themselves deeply confused.

Troubled. Their Savior had been crucified, leaving their hearts and hopes shattered. Adding to the distress, some of the women had testified that Jesus had risen from the tomb. As they grappled with this mind-blowing news, trying to grasp the meaning of it all, another traveler joined them on the road. He was a stranger to them, but they welcomed the company. Good conversations can shorten a long journey. “What are you discussing so intently?” He asked. In response to their answer, the Stranger began to take “them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27, NLT). As they near home, their hearts, so recently frozen in fear, are now on fire with a holy hope. They turn to enter their home, and the Stranger walks onward.

They could let Him continue—He had given them much to ponder. Instead they beg Him to come home with them and stay the night. He turns to follow them, and there, under their roof, they discover the risen Savior. Seated at their table, breaking bread, He looks completely at home—within their home. What of us, His modern-day disciples? When life has our hearts caught in an icy grip, when we struggle to breathe through the fog of overwhelming distress, and worst of all, when we feel isolated within our pain—we have a choice.

We can ask Jesus to come and abide in our home, to make His home within our hearts. He longs to set our hearts on fire. May our prayer be, “Make our hearts Your home, Lord!”

Karen Pearson