Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us? Luke 24:32.

After Christ’s death two disciples, on their way to Emmaus from Jerusalem, were talking over the scenes of the crucifixion. Christ Himself drew near, unrecognized by the sorrowing travelers. Their faith had died with their Lord, and their eyes, blinded by unbelief, did not recognize their risen Savior. Jesus, walking by their side, longed to reveal Himself to them, but He accosted them merely as fellow travelers, saying “What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?” Astonished at the question, they asked if He were a stranger in Jerusalem and had not heard that a prophet, mighty in word and deed, had been crucified. “We trusted that it had been He which should have redeemed Israel,” they said, sadly.

“O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken,” Christ said; “ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.” …

The disciples had lost sight of the precious promises linked with the prophecies of Christ’s death, but when these were brought to their remembrance, faith revived; and after Christ had revealed Himself to them, they exclaimed, “Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?” …

If we would search the Scriptures, our hearts would burn within us as the truths revealed therein are opened to our understanding. Our hopes would brighten as we claim the precious promises strewn like pearls through the Sacred Writings. As we study the history of patriarchs and prophets, men who loved and feared God, walking with Him, our souls would glow with the spirit that animated them….

The question is asked, What is the cause of the dearth of spiritual power in the churches? The answer is, We allow our minds to be drawn away from the Word…. The Word of the living God is not merely written, but spoken. It is God’s voice speaking to us, just as surely as if we could hear it with our ears. If we realized this, with what awe we would open God’s Word, and with what earnestness we would search its pages.—The Review and Herald, March 31, 1903. FH 29.6