Every single one of us is on a journey. At some point in history we were born. At some point in the future we will die. One day on our tombstones there will be a dash that represents our journey from birth to death. The question we must continually ask ourselves then is, "what will our dash represent?"
In Luke 24, the two disciples were on a journey. They had lost hope in Jesus and wanted to get away from Jerusalem. Their journey was an effort to escape the pain of Jesus’ death. But then they have an encounter with a mysterious visitor who shares with them God’s work throughout history and how Jesus’ death had to happen if humankind was to find salvation. The disciples were intrigued with the visitor’s faith and understanding and plea to him, "stay with us." The visitor not only shares a meal with them, but serves them. The disciples realize that they are with no ordinary visitor, but with Jesus himself risen from the dead.
We are all on a journey. Some of us are journeying away from Jesus. Some of us are taking a break from moving all together. Others are journeying towards Jesus. The story of the disciples’ journey to Emmaus helps us to understand how to keep moving with Jesus along our journey.
On the road to Emmaus Jesus shares with the disciples the story of God. If we want to journey with Jesus we must know God’s story through the Bible. To fully understand how God is working in our world today, we have to understand how God has worked throughout history.
When the disciples arrived in Emmaus Jesus kept walking, but the disciples called out to him, "stay with us." If we want to journey with Jesus we must desire Jesus to be with us. We must care enough to ask for and acknowledge Jesus’ presence in our lives.
Finally, once the disciples realized that Jesus had risen they rushed back to Jerusalem to share their story. Jesus gives the disciples a new mission to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ’s resurrection to the world. No longer are they the stars of their own stories, but they become role players in a much larger story of God. If we want to journey with and towards Jesus, we must learn to follow and submit to Jesus. The journey is no longer ours, but we have given God the freedom to plan our journey for us. God gives us our destination . . . God plugs in the coordinates . . . we just follow the map we are given.
Embrace the journey on the roadmap God created for you.