Suicide is on the rise for girls ages 10 to 14, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Dr. Petra Steinbuchel at the University of California's San Francisco Benioff Children's Hospital said, "There's so much emphasis on other kids having the perfectly fabulous life. It can create feelings of isolation and hopelessness."
Hopelessness is all around us. Maybe you feel that way today. Maybe you've had something come your way recently that has rocked your world in some way.
The gospel of Luke tells us about two people who were burned out and bummed out. They felt as though Jesus had let them down, that Jesus had failed, even though he constantly spoke about the fact that he would die on a cross. Yet it came as a shock to them when it actually happened. It devastated them because they thought Jesus was coming to overthrow the Roman government and free Israel from the occupying force.
However, that was never His plan. Jesus hadn't come to wear a crown of gold; He came to wear a crown of thorns. He hadn't come to sit on a regal throne; He came to die on a wooden cross. He said it again and again, but somehow they collectively missed the memo.
They didn't want to think about the horrible events that had just happened. They didn't want to see that bloodied cross. They didn't want to be reminded of the death of Jesus. So they decided to leave town. And who joined them on the road? It was Jesus Christ himself, making a post-Resurrection appearance. But they didn't realize they were talking to Jesus.
If it were me, the first person I appeared to would have been Pontius Pilate. Hey, Pilate, how's it going? Remember me? Or, I would have appeared to Caesar, who thought he was a god. I might have appeared to Herod the Great, whom Jesus had no words for when He stood before him.
But Jesus didn't appear to Pilate. He didn't appear to Caesar. And He didn't appear to Herod. He appeared to Cleopas and someone else whose name we don't know. Jesus always had time for ordinary people.
He also had time for down-and-outers and unpopular people. Take, for example, Zacchaeus, a tax collector, or the woman at the well in Samaria who had been married and divorced five times and was living with a man. Jesus always had time for society's rejects.
I love what Jesus said to Cleopas and his travel companion: "What are you discussing so intently as you walk along?" (Luke 24:17 NLT).
Cleopas said, "You must be the only person in Jerusalem who hasn't heard about all the things that have happened there the last few days." (verse 18 NLT). So they started telling Jesus about Jesus.
Then Jesus told them, "You foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures. Wasn't it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory?" (verses 25–26 NLT).
He took them on a personally guided tour of the Old Testament, showing them all the passages that pointed to the coming Messiah. What a message that must have been. That probably was the greatest sermon ever preached, and we missed it. When I get to Heaven, I'd like to say, "Lord, can you go over that one more time? I want to know what I missed."
These two actually were walking with God himself that day. And when they finally recognized Jesus, he disappeared. But they summed it beautifully when they said, "Didn't our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?" (verse 32 NLT).
Jesus opened the Scriptures to them, and their hearts began to burn. I think all of us could use a good case of spiritual heartburn. We need to read the Bible every day to maintain strong and vibrant spiritual lives.
There are three spiritual temperatures that could describe us: icy cold, lukewarm or boiling hot. People whose temperature is icy cold have no spiritual life. They don't have a real interest in spiritual things. They don't care that much about anything spiritual.
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Then there's the worst temperature of all: lukewarm. I like to call this miserably lukewarm. Miserably lukewarm people don't think they have a problem. Jesus, speaking to lukewarm people, said, "I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!" (Revelation 3:15–16 NLT). You don't want your spiritual temperature to be lukewarm. You want it to be hot.
These two on the road to Emmaus were believers in Jesus, but they thought they didn't want to be with fellow believers. Therefore, they isolated themselves. But when we're hurting, the first place we should go to find help is the church.
What did they do to have their hearts reignited? They returned to fellowship with other believers. Luke's gospel tells us that "within the hour they were on their way back to Jerusalem. There they found the eleven disciples and the others who had gathered with them" (24:33 NLT). They went back to the cross, back to fellowship with other believers, back to the things they needed to do all along to keep their hearts hot for God.
Maybe you've lost hope today. Jesus can restore hope in your life. Whatever you're going through, you're not alone. If you're a Christian, God is walking with you through your challenges. God is walking with you down life's road.