Song of Songs 2:15 “You must catch the troubling foxes, those sly little foxes that hinder our relationship. For they raid our budding vineyard of love to ruin what I’ve planted within you. Will you catch them and remove them for me? We will do it together.” Today's episode discusses what the Song of Songs is all about and what this verse, in particular, means. We have so many things that can get in the way of our relationship with the Lord. We must look at these things and see what we can do about them. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Will You Catch Your Foxes?
Song of Songs 2:15 “You must catch the troubling foxes, those sly little foxes that hinder our relationship. For they raid our budding vineyard of love to ruin what I’ve planted within you. Will you catch them and remove them for me? We will do it together.”
I had the best class at Encounter Ministries Boston Campus last night. Our teachers explained to us all about The Song of Songs book in the Bible. I am sure Father Mike explained it to me during the Bible in a Year, but not like they did tonight in class. They explained all about the different translations of the Bible and how they have a literal word-for-word translation, and they also have a dynamic translation which captures more of the phrase for phrase or thought for thought. Encounter Ministries decided to use the Passion Translation as they felt this was the best one to help us understand the Song of Songs best.
I am unsure if I knew anything about the song of songs before last night. However, it was beautiful how they explained it. Our teachers read out loud the first five chapters, stopping along the way to talk about what was really going on and what it all meant. It was incredible. I found myself so interested in the story and almost like I was a part of it. Which, of course, we are all a part of it. The Song of Songs is meant to be our love story with the Lord. Each one of us is pursued by the Lord just as this woman was pursued by her bridegroom. If you have not read the Song of Songs, I recommend you go and read it using the passion translation. I am sure we will have many more episodes from this book, as I heard so many incredible things last night.
However, as soon as I heard the verse above, I knew it was the verse I needed to talk about. I loved the language and the concept. “You must catch the troubling foxes, those sly little foxes that hinder our relationship, for they raid our budding vineyard of love to ruin what I’ve planted within you. Will you catch them and remove them for me? We will do it together?” First of all, there are so many things that get in the way of our relationship with the Lord. Thinking of these things as sly foxes is great because sometimes they are things we wouldn’t think would be a hindrance. For instance, we all had to take a few minutes and ask the Lord what our foxes were. One of my classmates heard the word busyness. This is probably a hindrance for many of us. I think the enemy likes to keep us busy. Even if we are busy doing good things, it can still get in the way of our relationship with the Lord if we don’t put that relationship first. Everyday things can also get in our way, like TV, social media, and games on our computer or our phone. What are the foxes in your life? What are the things that are hindering your relationship with the Lord?
Did you know that the Lord desires a personal relationship with you? He doesn’t just want to know you from afar. He doesn’t just want to be someone that you talk to when you need something. He wants to be in a relationship with you. What does that mean? If you are in a relationship with someone, then you spend time with them, and you get to know them. You care about them, and they care about you. This is not only what the Lord desires. This is his deepest longing. Did you know the Lord longs for you? Isn’t it incredible when you think about it? He could have anything He wants, and yet what He longs for is an intimate relationship with you. That just blows my mind.
In the next part of the verse, after the author explains what the foxes are, he says, “For they raid our budding vineyard of love to ruin what I’ve planted within you. Will you catch them and remove them for me?” This explains what the things that hinder our relationship do, they steal the fruit of all that the Lord planted inside of us. Do you often wonder why we are not producing more fruit? Why aren’t our prayers more fruitful? Why aren’t our actions being more fruitful? Why aren’t we seeing more fruit in our ministry? I know I do. This verse tells us that it is because there are hindrances that are getting in the way. We might not realize there are things getting in the way. However, we can’t have an intimate relationship with the Lord if we never have time to spend with Him.
Think of a good relationship that you have. Do you spend time with that person? What if you didn’t spend any time with them? Would it still be a good relationship? What about your relationship with work? Would you be able to get things done at work if every time you tried something else got it the way? Would you be productive at work if you spent your work time watching TV or playing games on your computer or your phone? No, I don’t think you would.
The Lord calls us to catch these foxes and remove them for Him. Isn’t it beautiful that He cares enough about us to ask us to do this for Him? The last few words of this verse are great. “We will do it together.” The Lord doesn’t even ask us to do it on our own. He isn’t telling us to go and take care of our foxes and then come back when we have finished. He is telling us that we will do it together. How amazing is that?
This is like so many things with the Lord. He wants to partner with us. This reminds me of forgiveness. We don’t have to do that alone, either. All we have to do is give our yes, and then the Lord will come alongside us and heal our hearts. Whatever it is we are trying to do, the Lord wants to partner with us. With Him, we can do all things, and without Him, we can do nothing. Once we realize this, I mean truly realize that we need Him for everything. Our life gets so much easier because we start to rely on His power instead of our own. He is so much stronger than we are. We need His power.
The Lord is asking you to catch your foxes. Will you do that for Him? Will you take two minutes of quiet time with the Lord this morning and ask Him what your foxes are? What are the things that are getting in the way of you spending time with Him? Or, maybe nothing is getting in the way of you spending time with Him, but something is getting in the way of you growing closer to Him. Is something hindering you from opening up and letting Him in?
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we don’t want anything to get in the way of our relationship with you. Please help us discover our foxes and catch them. Please help us discover the intimate relationship you want to have with us. Help us say yes to your invitation. Help us grow closer to you. We love you, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow. I will be sending out details about my new coaching program this week, so if you are not on my mailing list, CLICK HERE to join. I will also be adding the details on my website, walkboldlywithjesus.com. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!