They are cute, aren't they? Little foxes. Like most babies, they appear innocent. But beware, things are not always what they seem.

Recently, my friend Vicki, and I were discussing a verse of scripture in the Song of Solomon or Song of Songs which says that it's "the little foxes" that ruin the vineyards. 

During our conversation we were sharing that foxes have many "voices". They can make more than 40 different sounds. Foxes have become known as a symbol of cunning and trickery. In the Hebrew, the word for fox is rendered "jackal" which are more easily caught than a fox.

In a grape vineyard, foxes sneak in under the fencing and ruin the fruit on the vines, and although foxes are carnivorous animals, making their way under the fences that surround the young crops, they also devour the life giving vines of the plants and make bare the roots. Harming the young shoots of the vines as well as eating the grapes.

I liken it to my own life. I sometimes can be "tricked" by the many voices of what seems to offer logical reasoning when I am tempted to overindulge on the foods I know I should limit. Like those "little foxes" that try to sneak in "under my radar" when I'm at my weakest. They whisper such innocent sounds in my ear and then they not only cause me to overindulge, but before I know it, I realize my whole thought process as well as my fortitude has been compromised. As unwanted habit start to emerge, if I'm not careful, they can become addictive, hard to control and difficult to eliminate.  

After surgery it can be much easier to let old habits work their way back into our routine, but even years later, we must still be aware of the things in our environment that seem to sneak their way back in. When we fail to ignore the warning signs of their entrance into our "vineyards" or our lives, they may not be so harmless. In the long run, it's the little temptations that open the door to the greater.

However, when we make a conscience effort to stay alert and aware of these "tricks", they allow us the opportunity to make bare our own root issues—discovering our weakness and uncover the roots of temptation. I often have to remind myself that I am the only one who can choose to keep my "fences" strong, my boundaries secure, and surrounding a safe haven in which to dwell.

Although this verse in Song of Solomon is a dialog between two lovers, it also reminds me of importance of having a support person, someone who can help you and I "catch those little foxes".

So let's not allow small temptations to spoil our new (blooms) or new lifestyle opportunities that promise us a better future.

"Catch for us the foxes,
 the little foxes 
that ruin the vineyards,
 our vineyards that are in bloom." Song of Solomon 2:15