Daily Encounters with Jesus
by thebaileydrink
Merry Monday by Parris-
“Then they drew near unto the village where they were going, and He made as though He would have gone further. But they constrained Him, saying, Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And He went in to stay with them.” Luke 24:28,29.
We all have to walk the road to encounters that change us. What starts out as horrible, tragic with disbelief can turn around into joy, excitement and devotion. Those disciples on the road to Emmaus had such an encounter. Like all of us, the two disciples that left Jerusalem that day had their story. It was seared into their memory and they pack up quickly to leave it all behind. Their dreams went dead and their hopes vanished. It was just the two of them walking the many miles back to Emmaus sharing about the cross and the Christ until a stranger met up with them. They didn’t know it was Jesus nor could they see if they tried. Sometimes the wool gets pulled right over our eyes and our whole world turns cloudy. What makes this so unusual is that Jesus surely had a full agenda after he got resurrected! But here he is taking the time to meet up with these two. Then, He takes the time to walk with them patiently instructing them through the Bible concerning himself. It wasn’t until Christ breaks bread at the house that they realize its Jesus. Christ vanishes, leaving behind new hope, zest for life and understanding of the scripture like never before. In a flash their world had come back alive to them so much that they went back into Jerusalem to tell the brethren. I would call that a major encounter! Where will you come out on the other side of this season?
I love the part in the passage where they beg the stranger to abide with them and stay. They urged him inside for Jesus was intending to go on. Jesus says to all, “Open to Me, My sister, My love, My dove, for My head is filled with dew, and My locks with the drops of the night”?
There is always times when season change that we distance ourselves from intimacy. Throughout the scriptures we see examples of people pressing on the Lord. Abraham pleaded with the angels to stay, the Syro-Phoenician woman sought for the healing of her daughter, the blind men cried unto Him for sight so He cried out louder and louder, and the nobleman, when he came with his son, pleaded with tears till he cried, “Lord, come down before my child dies.”
So many have read their bibles yet have no encounters with Christ! Did not our hearts burn within us while He spoke with us by the way? Let’s not treat baptism, or the Lord’s Supper, or the reading of the Word, or the hearing of it, in a casual way during this season. Let’s come out of this with hearts burning and minds shining with encounters of Christ!