The fires in Los Angeles County are difficult to comprehend. Those who lost everything in the wind-whipped flames gazed in shock upon the ashes of their once beautiful homes. When asked, many could only reply, “It’s all gone.”
Jesus can empathize, for he had no home either. “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” (Mat. 8:20). After the fires, many were left with only the clothes on their backs. So too, Jesus possessed only the robe and tunic he was wearing when he was crucified. The soldiers cast lots to see “who would get them (Jno. 19:23-24).
The Californians lamented all the personal possessions they lost in the fires. Jesus taught that all we possess would eventually be lost to “moth, rust,” or “thieves.” Rather, “store up for yourselves treasures in heaven…for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Mat. 6:19-20). May all who have suffered this tragic event look to Jesus and be drawn closer to him. We do not serve a savior “who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15).
-Dennis Doughty
