Burning Within... or The Red Chair!

We have had some very enjoyable weather here in Oklahoma over the last week or so.  And as I sat on our balcony enjoying the coolness of the early morning today, I couldn’t help but look over to the empty red patio chair next to me.  I couldn’t help but imagine the gleeful, peaceful and content look in the eyes of the gal who used to sit next to me on the various patios of the lodges we stayed at over the years during our mini-holidays on the northern California coast.

It was a look that was present from the moment we got up until we retired for the evening against the backdrop of the Pacific Ocean and the mesmerizing sound of the waves crashing up against the rocky shoreline.  I could literally see the visible changes in her countenance within moments of our walking into our room during those special times.  The peace and contentment of God in her life would flow over her as she released the built-up pressures and tensions of all her responsibilities as wife, mom, homeschool teacher, and minister of the Gospel at my side.

Piper was very passionate about and therefore very focused on those responsibilities and at times would tend to forget to take a moment or two during the day to relax in the midst of the whirl of activities that seemed to be a constant at our home.  I don’t think that most people outside the world of homeschooling understand nor appreciate all the work, pressure, organization, research and non-stop planning that fills the life of a homeschool mom!  But that was Piper’s world… and she loved every minute of it.

Those mini-vacations or “holidays” as we came to term them gave her… or maybe better said, forced her to relax, refuel and just be that special gal for whom I could devote 100% of my attention to for those 2-night adventures alone, away from the cares and responsibilities of the rest of our world.

As was usual for us during these times away, we would have our morning Bible study together at the small table in the room or on the outside patio (weather conditions permitting), get re-fired and excited about the Word and then, using it as our continual guide, dream and plan about our future adventures in the faith.

Scriptures like Dr. Luke wrote in his gospel in chapter 24 verse 32 would perfectly describe our own excitement as God opened up the meaning of His Word to us.  In relating the experience that two of Jesus’ disciples had with Him along the road to Emmaus, “the beloved physician” (See: Colossians 4:14) penned, “They said to each other, ‘Weren't we excited when he talked with us on the road and opened up the meaning of the Scriptures for us?’"  The King James Version expresses their reaction as, “Did not our heart burn within us…”

I couldn’t find any better description of what Piper and I felt along with these two disciples than what the English Baptist Pastor and Biblical scholar John Gill wrote  between 1743-1763 in his “Exposition of the Gospel” saying: “as they travelled together; …his words came with such evidence, power, and sweetness, that they were ravished with them; their minds were irradiated with beams and rays of divine light; their hearts were warmed and glowed within them; they became fervent in spirit, and their affections were raised and fired; they found the word to be as burning fire within them; and they now knew somewhat what it was to be baptized with fire, which is Christ's peculiar office to administer;”

Piper and I would return home from our mini-holidays together hopelessly in love, with our hearts and spirits aglow as with a burning fire from our time spent with the Lord and with an excitement to forge ahead with whatever the Father, Son and Holy Ghost called on us to accomplish in the days, months and years ahead!

When’s the last time you felt that same force of excitement building up in you?  Does something tingle inside of you when you read about the adventures of those who walked with Jesus in Bible times… or are they to you, just old stories told to the kids in Children Church or in Catechism classes?  What might you need to re-kindle that burning fire within you?  Maybe it’s a mini-holiday to some special place around you?  Maybe it’s going to church this Sunday… or maybe its just a quiet moment or two alone with your Bible on your patio or balcony?

Any of those sound good to me… how about you?

Have a wonderful weekend, and as you do, say with me… “I am expecting my heart to begin to burn with the excitement that can only come from time spent with HIM in His Word… today!”