As I walked through the forest near Ridgecrest, North Carolina, the leaves crunched more than usual. A forest fire had raged through these woods since I visited last spring. Its pattern did not seem to make much sense. Some patches were scorched, while others unaffected.
I’ve never walked through a forest after a fire, and I tried to absorb the scenery. Getting the opportunity to photograph such damage would probably never happen again, so I was meticulous with my photography.
My vision was to photograph the larger landscape and the impact of the fire on the forest—I wasn’t really planning on using my macro lens. When I approached one scorched tree, I stopped to study it. The fire burned two inches of bark off and left the rest charred.
READ MORE: THE LORD’S DISCIPLINE
Evidence of new life though burst throughout in the forest. Tiny trees and growth popped up everywhere, but what caught my eye were the tiny ants streaming up and down the tree. They seemed to follow the same path making it easy to capture a photograph.
The forest was charred and had lost life, but new life had also begun. If we have invited Jesus into our lives, He has brought new life—the old has passed away. Walk in a newness of life!
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:7, ESV)
