Two foxes have made their home right here on 93rd Street in the middle of Lubbock, Texas. City streets, traffic, porch lights, barking dogs — none of it has discouraged them. They trot across our yards with confidence, slipping between fences as if they’ve lived here forever. And honestly, they probably have. (picture by Ricardo Martinez)
Foxes are astonishingly adaptable creatures. The red fox — the most widespread fox species in the world — thrives in environments ranging from Arctic tundra to deserts, and even in major cities and suburbs. They are small, swift, clever mammals with pointed ears, narrow snouts, and long bushy tails that help them balance and stay warm.
Watching Foxes in the Middle of the City
Watching them here, in the middle of a city, stirred something deep in me. Because Jesus once said something about foxes — and it wasn’t about their cleverness or beauty. It was about home.
“Foxes have dens and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” — Matthew 8:20
Jesus and the Cost of Following
This statement wasn’t poetic sadness. It was a challenge — a response to a scribe who boldly declared, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus didn’t applaud his enthusiasm. Instead, He warned him: You don’t know what you’re asking.
Scholars note that Jesus wasn’t merely talking about physical homelessness. He was revealing the deeper reality of His mission — rejection by the very people who should have welcomed Him as Messiah-King. His lack of a place to lay His head was part of His humiliation as the Son of Man, the Lord of creation who walked the earth as a wanderer. Following Him meant embracing that same dispossession, that same reversal of worldly priorities.
Feeling Unmoored When Jesus Calls
And that’s where this touched my heart. Because when Jesus called my name, I didn’t feel homeless — but I did feel unmoored. The things that once felt important no longer held me. The places where I used to “lay my head” — emotionally, spiritually, socially — didn’t fit anymore. My heart started following Jesus in a way that loosened my grip on everything else.
So here I am, watching two foxes who have found a home in the middle of Lubbock, while the One I follow had none. And somehow, that makes sense to me.
What Home Really Is
Because the more I follow Him, the more I realize: Home isn’t where I live. Home is who I follow.
And like those foxes slipping through the fences on 93rd Street, I’m learning to move lightly through this world — not rootless, but free.
A Moment of Invitation
Maybe as you read this, something in your own heart stirred — the same way those foxes stirred mine. Maybe you’ve felt that gentle pull, that holy disconnection from what used to define you. Maybe you’ve sensed Jesus calling your name, inviting you into a life where “home” is no longer a place you build but a Person you follow.
If so, hear this clearly: Jesus still calls disciples the same way He always has — personally, directly, lovingly, and with purpose. He doesn’t ask you to clean yourself up first. He doesn’t ask you to prove anything. He simply says, “Follow Me.”
And following Him will change you. It will loosen your grip on what once felt important. It will reorient your priorities. It will give you a new kind of belonging — not rooted in geography or status, but in grace.
If you sense that call today, don’t ignore it. Open your heart. Say yes. Let Him lead you into the kind of life where even if you have “nowhere to lay your head,” you are never without a home.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father,
We love you, Jesus. You are the One who calls us out of what is familiar and into what is eternal. You are the One who walked this world without a place to lay Your head, so that we could find our true home in You.
Today, I lift up every heart reading these words — the searching heart, the restless heart, the weary heart, the heart that feels the tug of Your voice. Draw them close. Speak their name. Give them courage to follow wherever You lead.
Loosen our grip on what cannot save us, and anchor us in the love that never lets go. Make us disciples who walk lightly in this world, but deeply in Your presence.
In Jesus holy name we pray,
Amen.
Related Scriptures
These verses echo the themes of discipleship, surrender, following Jesus, and the cost of leaving behind what once felt like “home.”
• Matthew 8:19–20 — Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
• Luke 9:57–62 — Jesus calls His followers to radical, immediate obedience.
• Matthew 16:24–25 —Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.”
• Philippians 3:7–8 — Paul counts all things as loss compared to knowing Christ.
• Hebrews 13:14 — “For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.”
• 1 Peter 2:11 — Believers are “sojourners and exiles” in this world.
• John 10:27–28 — “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.”
• Psalm 84:1–4 — Blessed are those who dwell in God’s presence; He is our true home.
• Psalm 90:1 — “Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.”
• Revelation 21:3 — God will dwell with His people; home is ultimately with Him.
Resources
Bruce, F. F. Hard Sayings of Jesus: The Hard Sayings Series. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2025.
Chamblin, J. Knox. Matthew: A Mentor Commentary. Ross-shire, Great Britain: Mentor, 2010. Boring, M. Eugene.
“The Gospel of Matthew.” In New Interpreter’s Bible, edited by Leander E. Keck, Vol. 8. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994–2004.
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