Little Foxes

June 2, 2008

The Song of Solomon is a wonderful book that I could probably park in and write many a devotional in. So as we read it today for the historical reading of the Bible I had to find one nugget that had to stand out above others.

Song of Solomon 2:15 DRB
(15) Catch us the little foxes that destroy the vines: for our vineyard hath flourished.

Song of Solomon has 4 parts to it. They meet and fall head over heals in love, they marry, the have a disagreement, they get it worked out. At this point the bride-to-be is speaking and she is warning her future husband that they need to catch the little foxes that will ruin their vineyard. Later on, when they have their disagreement (Chapter 5), we find out they did not succeed.

The bride was not talking about a natural vineyard here, but it is a good example of what husbands and wives face every day. Small foxes can not reach grapes on the vineyard, they are too high. They can however, reach the vine that supports them and after a while the grapes will fall because they have no nourishment going to them. At that point they become easy for the fox or any other animal to eat.

Satan knows the best way to attack a marriage is not at the top. Like the fox, he nibbles away at the underneath. Husbands get involved in work because that is what they are supposed to do. Then they focus on work so much they ignore their family. Then when they get home, or later in life when work has lost its reward they watch sports on TV, dreaming of what they could have been. Wives focus on their children to the exclusion of their husband because that is what a woman is to do. She might focus on television as well, dreaming of having the romance she might have had while watching shows that appeal to her romantic side.

One by one, the vine is being nibbled at. A once strong love for each other never becomes what could have been. Satan has weakened the family.

The vine can be put back together again through the love of Jesus. Both sides will have to want that to happen though.

If you are married, what is the status of your vine? If not, beware of the foxes when you find someone special.

Read through the Bible in one year in Historical order
Today
Song of Solomon 1:1-8:14
Tomorrow

Proverbs 1:1-3:35

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