In the sermon on the mount Jesus referenced the love of a father in providing for his children to illustrate God's love: "What man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him" (Matthew 7:9-11).

On December 7, 1988 an earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale struck the city of Spitak in northern Armenia. A second earthquake measuing 5.8 followed just a couple of minutes later. The results were 25,000 dead and hundreds of thousands left homeless.

Shortly after the earthquake a worried father hurried through the narrow streets of his village to the village school his young son attended. The father's thoughts were focused on his often repeated promise to his son: "No matter what happens, I will be there for you."

Upon arriving at the school's location, the father found only a pile of rubble. Nevertheless, he climbed over the pile to the back where his son's classroom used to be. Using his bare hands, he began to claw at the pile of rocks and debris. Other joined him in his effort.

After 37 hours of exhausting effort, the father heard a soft moan in the rubble, then a trembling voice: "Papa?"

Then he could hear other faint voices. Of the 33 pupils in the boy's class, 14 were pulled alive out of the destruction. When the son and his classmates had been freed from their desperate situation, bystanders overheard him telling his friends: "Didn't I say my dad would not forget us?"

Following Moses' death, Joshua prepared to enter the Promised Land. God told him: "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Joshua 1:5). God says the same thing today to everyone He calls (Hebrews 13:5). God has entrusted those called to His son, and Jesus says of them: "No one will snatch them out of my hand" (John 10:28).

As remarkable as the true story of the buried son in the rubble of the 1988 Armenien earthquake is, the love of our heavenly father for his children is immeasurably greater.

With these thoughts I wish everyone a rewarding Sabbath!