The Firefighters of Station 12 Who Refused to Sleep

In 1991, a wildfire swept through the Oakland Hills of California, killing twenty-five people and destroying over three thousand homes in a single afternoon. Investigators later discovered that the fire had actually started the day before — a small grass fire that crews believed they had fully extinguished. They went home. They slept soundly. By morning, hidden embers had reignited beneath the dry brush, and within hours the blaze became unstoppable.

After that disaster, Station 12 adopted a new protocol. When a fire was knocked down, crews stayed on scene through the night, walking the perimeter, turning over smoldering debris, dousing every wisp of smoke. Other stations called them obsessive. But Captain Ray Mitchell had a saying his team never forgot: "The fire you ignore tonight becomes the inferno you cannot fight tomorrow."

When Jude sat down to write his letter, he had planned to celebrate the beauty of shared salvation. But something urgent interrupted him. He had seen embers glowing — false teachers creeping in, distorting grace, dismissing the Lordship of Christ. So he pivoted. He grabbed the church by the shoulders and said: contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints. Do not go home. Do not assume the Christ-centered gospel will simply preserve itself. Walk the perimeter. Stay vigilant. The faith is an inheritance worth guarding through the long night.