Philippians 2:2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

Ezekiel 38:10 Thus saith the Lord God; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:

Lately my mind has been bent on one thing. I have a desire for confirmation of my thoughts. I wait on a dear brother in the Lord to send me an assignment. Will he choose that thing in which my mind has given so much time and effort in searching out truth and light? Or will it be something else?

So I seek a word from the Word. In which of these passages will I find help from the Lord?

The answer must be to look in both places. If my mind is right I will find peace in Philippians and if my mind is not right I will find correction in Ezekiel. When seeking, why would I demand the Lord should agree with me? I must also explore the possibility of being wrong.

I’ve invested many hours in this and I want this assignment. That does not mean it is God’s will for me. Neither should I look to my dear brother and think that if he chooses another assignment for me, that he has not heard from the Lord. I must accept whatever assignment I am given with the heart of a servant who is grateful to have been chosen at all.

Seeking answers in the scriptures to current conditions only has value if you are willing to find an answer you might not want to hear. At risk here is my relationship with my brother and my Lord. Not that they have turned from me, but that I might put my own desires before the Lord’s needs. Can I find truth in scripture and accept the answer? I would like to think I can but how will I know without being tested.

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Call me O Lord according to your purpose.

Luke 24:33 And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them,

This verse appears towards the end of the telling of the walk to Emmaus. Luke places Emmaus about seven miles from Jerusalem. Very little is known about Emmaus except in its relationship to Jerusalem. If you look for clarity in the writings of others about Emmaus and why these men might have set out for Emmaus, the issues of where Emmaus was get more confusing.

The historian Josephus states that the name means hot springs. There are no hot springs to be found within seven miles of ancient Jerusalem. There are remains of a Roman bath, but is it likely that these disciples would be going there? Then there are those that lay claim it is the site of the Maccabean stronghold. Any of these can be claimed to be candidates for the location of Emmaus. But to what end?

The fact that the location and purpose for Emmaus is unknown is significant to our personal story in that we all travel a different road, with different destinations in mind, when we come to know the Risen Lord. What is important is that the encounter turned these men around and they went back to Jerusalem.

Here is the picture of repentance, a turning around from your life course and heading back towards God. We do not often make reference to this turning in the telling of the Emmaus story. The story is replete in the amount of lessons that can be seen in conversations, communion and discipleship. I would be remiss if I were not to point out that without a course correction none of that holds any value in your life.

Philippians 3:12 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.