JUST THINKING: When Heartburn is Good
As I pondered the Easter service at Chenal Valley Baptist Church, I later read from Luke regarding the two men on the Emmaus Road and their experience with the risen Christ. “They asked each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?’” (Luke 24:32 NIV).I was just thinking that there are certainly times when heartburn is a good thing.
Christ’s Effect on Believers’ Hearts
Like those two men, every believer’s heart has benefited greatly from the truths of God’s Word. I share with you some Scriptures that declare the blessings of our heartburn:
• His Word guards our hearts. The apostle Paul informed us that we have reason to rejoice because of our relationship with Christ. He further said, “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7). The men on the Emmaus Road didn’t understand who they had been with until they heard the words of the Lord. It was then that they experienced a spiritual heartburn. Afterward, they had great peace. Today, believers are blessed to have our hearts guarded by the Holy Spirit, and that results in us having the same kind of peace.
• His Word dwells in our hearts. Those men were strengthened because they had been with Jesus. We can be glad because, by having a personal relationship through salvation, we are also strengthened. Christ dwells in us because we placed our faith in Him. Paul wrote, “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith” (Eph. 3:16-17).
• His peace rules our hearts. The two men who had walked and talked with Christ immediately shared their experience with others. That is what happens when we have the peace that only a personal relationship with Christ provides. Horatio Spafford penned the words to a great song following the deaths of his daughters at sea. “When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, it is well with my soul.”
Paul wrote the Colossian church: “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, through psalms, hymns and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts to God” (Col. 3:15-16).
The Good Heartburn is Ours
The words of the resurrected Christ caused the two men to experience burning hearts. This past Sunday, Christians around the world turned their attention to the triumphant resurrection. Our hearts should burn within us because of that victory and because we have personal relationships with Jesus Christ. Such heartburn is really good!
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Dr. Tom Mitchell
Dr. Tom Mitchell pens a column titled, Just Thinking, in which he addresses many topics relative to the Baptist Missionary Association. His Trailblazers series provides biographies of many BMA trailblazers from the past.
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