The Little Foxes

“Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom.” (Song of Solomon 2:15, ESV)

We American Christians, slowly but surely, have begun to unstitch the threads that hold together our faith. Rather than taking pains to reinforce that stitching, we make little daily choices that threaten not only the orthodoxy of our beliefs, but even the very fabric of the Church.

We have slowly come to accept what politicians, Hollywood and social media culture have fed us. One little grape at a time.

It is rare that anyone accepts a drastic change of belief overnight. Rather, like the frog that remains in a pot of water that is slowly heated to boiling, we don’t even notice a change of a degree or two. We become desensitized to sin.

Little foxes, in their playful and clumsy manner, destroy more than just the grapes that they eat; clusters are yanked to the ground and left as waste. Oftentimes, the branch itself is damaged beyond repair. As believers, we are told that we must “abide in the vine.”

“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:4-5, ESV)

But if we are not careful, the cute, unassuming, little foxes sneak in and steal our fruit, even putting us at risk of being pulled from the vine.

Sin is sin. The liar, the thief, the adulterer, the murderer, all have transgressed God’s law, and are deserving of hell. Society places greater weight upon some sins, but in the eyes of God all sin is worthy of a death sentence (Romans 6:23).

How is it that we have become afraid to tell a believing brother or sister that we can see sin making a foothold in their lives? How far has our love slipped that we don’t care enough to speak into their lives and allow them to speak into ours. We have believed the lie that faith is a private matter, when all of scripture speaks of believing communities!

“But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” (Hebrews 3:13, ESV)

God has called us to holiness, not to happiness. Our pleasure is not His priority, and it should not be ours either. The fact is that we are constantly in a state of hardening if we are not actively pursuing holiness. And it is infinitely easier when we do it together.

This post is a little…let’s say…stronger than my usual post. But I know that it’s a message I need to hear, and if you’re anything like me, you need to hear it, too. Let’s work together toward, “…the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14, ESV), keeping the little foxes at bay.

As always, these are the musings of a mindful disciple. Blessings on your week!

Fox Photo by Tom Frydenlund from Pixabay

Grape Photo by lizzymay from Pixabay

Sunset Photo by Nout Gons from Pexels