Today’s Devotional Theme The Gospel Train
Daily ScriptureLuke 24:13-15
“That very day two of [Jesus’ disciples] were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.”
Encouragement
Two trains roar past each other through the night. One plunges pell-mell toward perdition and oblivion. Thank God we’re not on that train! The other, silver-skinned, is racing east toward the break of dawn. The first rays of sun are about to glint off its sleek sides. As the sun rises, ushering in another warm day, this train will shine as though it is the source of the daylight. Trains make a timeless subject for thousands of songs of various genres. A favorite bluegrass band of mine does a rousing version of one of the many songs titled “Gospel Train.” One of the best-known gospel train songs has to be “This Train is Bound for Glory.” This train “don’t carry nothing but the righteous and the holy.”
Apply God’s Word
For reasons now obscure, that bluegrass gospel train song makes me think of the road to Emmaus recounted in Luke. Two disciples are on their way to a town a few miles west of Jerusalem, and a man falls in with them. They don’t know at first that the man is the resurrected Jesus. In my vision, a man comes aboard a train and sits opposite two friends, facing them. They sense something very different about him. He begins engaging the two in conversation, asking them about themselves, why they’re on this train and where they are going. Down the line, the train makes a stop. The lone man stands. “I get off here. Get off a few miles on, at a stop called Paradise. I’ll meet you there.” The two men look at each other. “Wow,” one says. “Something really different about that guy. I’ve always gone on past Paradise. Maybe we ought to just stop and see if he does meet us.” Train songs and visions aside, Jesus will meet us wherever we are, if our hearts and minds are open to something new. When we’re just drifting along without a destination in mind, Jesus will help us renew our place and purpose. And an encounter with Him in Paradise just might be in the offing.
Come into His Presence
Our Father in Heaven, I thank You for sending Your Son into our one-time wretched lives. We still sometimes find ourselves aboard that gospel train, but without a particular destination in mind. I thank You for renewing our focus on our destination. In Jesus’ Name, amen.
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