It's all over now. But last week the Cocos Fire in San Marcos, California, caused the evacuation of thousands, including me. The fire came within a few hundred feet of my home. In spiritual terms, it was a rehearsal for the day I will have to leave behind all earthly things. The following devotion is by Richard Wurmbrand (1909-2001) and has my attention more than before.
"Seek the things that are above" (Col. 3:1).
A Christian put the inscription, Linquenda, on the front of his house, which means in Latin, "I will have to leave it."
It is good to remember that one day we will have to leave our business, our library, our beloved ones, our body.
A beggar knocked at the gate of a rich man and asked for one night's lodging.
The rich man shouted, "I cannot let you in. This is not a hotel."
The beggar answered, "Please, forgive me. I will seek shelter somewhere else. Your house really impresses me by its beauty. I will not bother you, but please satisfy my curiosity. Who built this house?"
The rich man, friendlier now that he knew he would not have to put up with the stranger, replied, "My father built it."
"Very nice. Is he still alive?"
"No, he died and I inherited it."
"Do you have children? Who will inherit it when you will die?"
"My eldest son. He just married. He will live in it after my decease."
The beggar then said, "Well, the house is just what I thought it to be - a hotel. It is the first time I saw a hotel owner getting angry when someone asked for a room."
All of our houses are hotels. I don't have the slightest idea who stayed in the house, where I write these lines, before I entered it. I don't know who will succeed me. Linquenda - we will have to leave all.
Jesus came to invite us to an eternal abode, to His paradise. Detach your mind and your lusts from the transitory. You will have to leave it anyway.
