Heartburn
Today’s Verse:
And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? ~Luke 24:32
The Bible describes our bodies as being wonderfully and fearfully made. God has designed triggers within the human body that help us know symptoms of possible problems. Heartburn is when we feel a heaviness in our stomach and chest area from eating foods that were too fatty, too spicy, or extremely rich. It is a symptom that lets us know we have digestion problems. Spiritual heartburn is when the Word of God is stirring us up about our lives, and possibly about a step of obedience or faith we need to make. This morning, let us consider the purpose in spiritual heartburn.
We see the source.
“My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue,” Ps. 39:3. “Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay,” Jer. 20:9. The source of heartburn is God’s Word. God’s Word speaks to our conscience and heart about something we must give attention to and accomplish. It burns within us to make us keenly aware that we must obey the heavenly vision. It is a burning so intense that we cannot sleep and we must awaken early from sleep. In order for God’s Word to always burn inside of us, we must give earnest heed to the things which we hear, lest at any time we let them slip. We must give ourselves to meditation and much study. “Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way?”
We see the stirring.
The burning within us stirs us. The burning from God’s Word is a preventive means against spiritual indifference and apathy. It is a stirring that compels us to draw closer to the Lord. The burning within us moves us with fear and love to tell the gospel to sinners who need to be saved. The burning within us moves us to pray earnestly for God to do the impossible. This burning chastens our hearts about a besetting sin or weight that needs to be dealt with. It is this same passion that stirs up the gift within a preacher to preach the Word of God. This stirring is not something we can manufacture within us: it can only be done when God’s Spirit takes the Holy Word of God to reprove us. “Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way?”
We see the satisfaction.
We can only be satisfied once we have obeyed what God is doing in our heart. We might try to push it off or ignore it. However, there will be a tugging from within that we are not right with God until we do what He tells us to do. When Bob Hughes went to the Philippines, he had no idea that God would use him to start a movement that has blossomed into millions of people receiving Christ as Savior and thousands of churches being reproduced. The burning inside of him led him to preach a message entitled “I Sat Where They Sat,” that continues to touch other lives. When a husband has gotten crossways with his wife, it is God’s Word that moves him to make right with her. He is a miserable man until he obeys that burning within him. As I begin every week, I pray for sinners to be saved and ask God to help me plan out the order of sinners I will be taking the gospel to. My heart burns within me until I have satisfied this duty from God.
Is your heart burning from reading God’s Word? Is there a message that has been preached that is burning within you about something that you must do? Is there a passage that has spoken to you in recent weeks that is compelling you to action? Let your heart burn and obey the Lord!
Have a fired-up God Morning!
Bible Reading Schedule: Isaiah 31-35