I think one of the most stirring stories of the resurrection was the incident with Cleopas and his friend. They bore the burden of seeing Jesus whipped and hanging on that cruel cross. Then came the long day of mourning on the Sabbath.

The following day, they heard the news from the women who had been to the tomb and their claim that two angels said Jesus was alive. But they, like the other men had trouble believing. It was just too much to take in.

 As they walked home to Emmaus, a stranger stopped them and asked what they were talking about. They blurted out their story of sadness and confusion. One statement they made resonated with the stranger.

“. . . we had hoped that he [Jesus] was going to redeem Israel.” Luke 24:21

The stranger was disturbed by this talk and reminded them of all that the prophets had spoken.

“Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. Luke 24:26-27

What a sermon that must have been!

When they went inside to eat, the stranger began to break bread and give thanks. They’re eyes were opened and they realized he was Jesus. Then he disappeared from their sight.

They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked to us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” Luke 24:32

That, my friends, is the very Scripture I thought of when the Lord called me to write.

I had been writing a few Bible studies, scripts, and skits, yet I kept having this nagging feeling that He wanted me to write more, but what? I heard sermons, read articles, or saw visuals that kept saying something about writing, but write what? One day as I drove on the expressway, I followed a car whose license plate said (I kid you not), “WRITE.”

Two months later, I sat in a small group session at a conference where the leader talked about the ways people move to another level with their ministries. She gave several life examples and then she shared about a friend who was a writer and told how the Lord called her to write a book. The more she talked the more convicted I felt. 

A fiery warmth began in my head, entered my chest, and flowed on through my body. It was as though the Lord took a branding iron and seared the word “Write” across my heart. I so identified with those two on the road to Emmaus. “Were our hearts not burning within us?”

Over several months, the Lord gave tiny steps in revealing the “what.”

Is there a word in Scripture that He wants to burn into your heart or a task He’s calling you to do? Open your mind and heart.

~ Joyce ~