Opening the Scriptures to Open Minds and Hearts

When Jesus rose from the dead, he appeared in a different form to two disciples as they walked from Jerusalem to Emmaus. They were sad and told him that the one they thought would redeem Israel had been killed and his body was missing. He explained to them that the scriptures taught that the Christ had to suffer before he entered into his glory. While they were eating together that evening, they recognized him just before he vanished from their sight. They said to each other that their hearts had burned within them as he had opened the scriptures to them. That's the way it is with God's word. Jeremiah says that his word felt like fire in the bones when it wasn't shared with others. When Jesus appeared to the eleven later that evening, he told them that everything written in the three Jewish divisions of the Old Testament (the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms) had to be fulfilled. Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. We too need to have our minds opened. Sometimes we come to God's word with preconceived ideas that keep us from understanding what God wants us to know. We can be so closed minded that we never see the meaning that the words on the page in front of us have for us. They must sink below our minds into our hearts. When the apostle Paul preached to Lydia, the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what Paul was saying. God is not going to force anyone to believe. But perhaps it is proper to pray that he will open people's hearts to pay attention to the message of God's word. But we, like Paul, need to be sharing God's word with those who have open hearts to pay attention.