Moses and the prophets wrote about Jesus. The Old Testament is ripe with Messianic (Messiah = Christ = "the anointed one") prophecy and Messianic figures. Jesus is all over the Old Testament. When you see the beauty of the Bible, how it is put together, and how deep it is, your heart burns! When you see the Bible has a POINT to make - and that point is CHRIST - you marvel, you grin, you swell up with emotion and joy. These two men on the road to Emmaus said, "Were not our hearts burning with in us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?" (Luke 24:32).
Anyone who has been in a good Bible study understand that feeling when your light comes on, when you see the truth, when you realize you have seen into God's great mystery! We can have this same burning within us. We don't need Jesus right beside us to explain the Scriptures to us because He has already explained it by His own mouth and by the mouths of His apostles. When we read we can understand His mystery. When we read we can have our hearts burn within us today.
We have finished the gospel of Luke and tomorrow we start the book of Acts, also written by Doctor Luke. Let me encourage you in a couple of points:
1) Read with a Purpose. As you read Acts, make a couple of notes. Note (a) a FAVORITE PASSAGE, (b) something NEW, and (c) a PRACTICAL APPLICATION.
2) Share it with the Group. It would be great to get more people commenting on the readings. Share one (or more) of your notes with everyone.
3) Don't get Burnt Out. If you find you have skipped a couple of days of reading, just pick up on TODAY'S reading. Don't feel like you have to catch back up on everything that was skipped. Lord willing, you will read back through this again later. You can also use Sunday to catch up on a day or two of reading, if you want.
God bless you in your reading of His word! May He create in us Burning Hearts. :-)
Nathan
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