Six Little Foxes...

Have you ever noticed that it is the little thing in life that cause you the most problems? Oh I know, we watch out for the BIG things so we really don’t have problems with them. However, LOOK OUT for those little things!

I have never in my life been tempted to rob a bank or a gas station. That is ludicrous! If I were to be caught, and of course I would be, I would spend time in jail and just the thought of incarceration terrifies me. However the temptation has been there more than once to pocket the excess change. More than one time I have struggled with myself about being completely honest on my income tax filing. All of these would be considered stealing by God but I have the tendency to classify some not so bad as others. We must watch out for the little things.

This was brought to my attention today by a friend making a comment about the need to stop the problem we deal with while they are small. I was reminded of a sermon my father preached about thirty-four years ago. Let me share a bit of it with you: It was a Sunday morning much like many other Sunday mornings in the past. We had gathered in the little gray Church building for worship after coming back from our respective Sunday School classes. We had the reports from each Sunday School class. We sang a couple of songs from the songbook. It was just a typical Sunday until the Pastor got up to preach.

He asked us to open our Bibles to the Songs of Solomon and a titter ran through the youth group. This is what he read:

"Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes," (Song of Solomon 2:15) KJV.

From that point on you didn’t hear another covered laugh or snicker. The Pastor preached with great anointing about the little things in our lives that hinder or walks with God. He explained how the little foxes would play in the vineyard under the grape vines where they were shaded. They would run under them and knock off the tender grapes and ruin the crops. He started to list the "Six Little Foxes" but the Spirit of God began to move and long a long story made short is that he preached on the "Little Foxes" for six weeks, one each week. For the next twenty years those people who were in those services still referenced those messages about the "Little Foxes."

Little Fox Number One: "A Little Sleep" Proverbs 6:6-11 ". . . 10 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep . . ." KJV

How easy it is to become tired in the midst of the battle and want to stop to take a nap. How easy it is while building a house to stop and let it sit without finishing the project. How easy it is for a house to decay and fall apart because it isn’t taken care of, (Ecclesiastis 10:18). It is just a little slumber or just a little sleep.

Little Fox Number Two: "A Little Foolishness" Ecclesiastis 10:1, "Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour." KJV

The spirit of our age is "Foolishness" or "silliness." It is so easy for the Christian to succumb to that spirit. Let me be entertained! Play for me, dance for me, so my mind can be at ease! For David it was a moment of "silliness" or "foolishness" that the "Little Fox" spoiled his vine. While other kings were at war, he walked on his house top with his mind opened to the temptations at hand.

How easy it is for us to make excuses for the need of foolishness in our lives. How easy it is to open our spirits to the "silliness" of this world. We allow our tender spirits to be spoiled and destroyed to the point we are no longer interested in "hungering and thirsting after righteousness . . ." or that which is pleasing to God. We are more interested in being entertained.

Little Fox Number Three: "A Little Leaven" or a little sin. 1 Corinthians 5:6-7, "Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? 7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened . . ." KJV

We look at it and say it isn’t much, it is just a little thing. Moses, the great leader of Israel, missed out on the Promise Land because he smote the rock instead of speaking to it as God directed. Just a little sin! Israel lost the battle with Ai after defeating Jericho because of a little sin! Saul saved the best of the cattle for a sacrifice. Partial obedience is disobedience, just a little sin! Miriam spoke against the wife of Moses, her brother, who was also the man of God. Leprosy came upon her, just a little sin!

Leaven in the New Testament is likened unto sin. Paul said it just takes a little sin to make the whole lump full of sin. We need to consistently confess our sins to God. We need to join the Psalmist and ask God to, "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting," (Psalms 139:23-24) KJV.

Little Fox Number Four: "A Little Faith" Mark 4:40, "And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?" KJV

Faith is acting upon what you believe. James speaks of faith without actions as nothing. The disciples had been told by Jesus they were going to the "other side" yet when the storm came there was no faith. Their confidence had left them. They refused to live through the storm as if they were going to the other side. They cried out to Jesus they were perishing.

We so often respond to the storms of life in terror! Our time is spent foolishly on things that have no eternal benefit and when the storms of life "assail us" we cannot believe that He will stand by us. Our faith is gone! Our motivation has left us! God steps in and calms the storm and we look at Him in wonder and say, "Where did He come from?" Yet just a while back He had worked miracles in our lives. Just a little faith!

Little Fox Number Five: "A Little Tongue" or a little member but big trouble! James 3:5, "Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!" KJV

Let me just list a few things about the tongue the Pastor said that day. (1) Galatians 5:13-15, Do not bite and devour each other. (2) 2 Peter 2:1 beware of false prophets and teachers who will bring teaching that denies God and will speak evil of truth. (3) Gossiping or being a busy body in other people’s business, Proverbs 26:20, 2 Corinthians 12:20, 1 Peter 4:15. (4) Lying, there is no such thing as a little lie! Read Proverbs 6: 16-19 and also Revelations 21:8. (5) Murmuring, grumbling or complaining and stop the disputing or fussing, 1 Corinthians 10:10-11 and Philippians 2:14.

Little Fox Number Six: "A Little Love" or Jonah a preacher without a burden! Just read the book of Jonah, he tells on himself. He was a burdenless preacher preaching damnation to a sinful nation with no care but for himself and his own comfort. They turn rather than burn, yet he sets and fails to respond to their need for God.

How easy to find ourselves caught in this trap. We become more interested in our comfort and enjoyment than in the need of our world to hear the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ. How easy to become self-centered and fail to touch the life of our neighbor. Jesus said the proof of our discipleship wasn’t in how well versed we were in doctrine or how obedient we were to the rules and regulations. Jesus said the proof of our Discipleship was simply in the love we have for one another.

A few decades have passed since the Pastor stood and preached on these "Little Foxes." Fads have changed and the challenges that we face today might come in a different disguise than they wore thirty years ago. The old preacher has transferred his residence to the streets of gold yet the message is as relevant today as it was that day. I need to watch for the little things that will mess me up. I have to be vigilant for the "Little Foxes" that will destroy the tender grapes or fruit my life is producing.

Thanks to my friend for your comment and story that brought this back to my memory. I have enjoyed a walk down memory’s lane. More than that, I have enjoyed the reminder to be careful with my soul.

Remember, "It’s just a thought!"