Gasp! He was there again!
One minute he wasn't and then suddenly, when I looked up from the kitchen sink I could see him, pretty as a picture, coat glinting golden and red in the January sunshine. He was sat on the grass framed by the corner fence panels, casually sniffing the air.
And 3 metres away were my 3 naive chicken, straining their necks in curiosity to see this handsome visitor. Yet again, just a few minutes earlier I had been thinking I would run down to the chicken and let them out of their run.
When was I going to learn this lesson?
Nearly every day the previous week I had briefly seen or heard the foxes in broad daylight - once just as I was about to go and let the chicken out of their run and once 10 minutes after I had safely shut them in.
But when I looked at the chicken in their tiny run and thought how cooped up they were - how they would love to stretch their legs and flap their wings in sudden flights across the garden; how they would enjoy scratching at the last remains of my parsley, pick up much needed grit from the path, snatch bits of lavender leaves before I chased them away, soak up the sunshine and for a few minutes feel free; and when I listened to the singing birds in the nearby trees, looked at the fences all around me and noticed the neighbour's rottweilers making their frequent barks, I would think, it'll be okay - just for a few minutes!
Their little chicken faces were so persuasive as they gathered eagerly at the run door every time I ventured out into the cold garden, and me - a new chicken-mum of only 3 months was missing my daily holds and strokes as they were becoming more used to me.
Every time this happened I thought to myself what a lesson there was in this - how the fox looked so pretty and innocent, how he so silently glided into the garden and away again before I hardly noticed.
How I would convince myself that nothing would happen, it would be okay just one more time - the rottweiler barking would keep the fox away - I would be there with my newly acquired stick to deter the fox - I could frighten him off.
Do my thoughts remind you of anything, dear reader?
Perhaps not literal foxes, but those harmless, attractive things which we think we can get away with indulging in without getting hurt.
Is it just a few minutes of this or that, or just saying one little thing?
You are perhaps relying on a 'nearby rottweiler' to keep you from harm, little realising that the fox doesn't care about the rottweilers - he has worked out that they are fenced in and can't get him.
And suddenly, before you know it the damage has been done - the fox has appeared like lightning, scattered the chicken, torn the head off one and made off with another. What destruction, regrets, if-onlys, and sadness it could bring.
What trouble a little word, sudden thought, or action can likewise bring.
Several times the following Bible verse has come to my mind, 'Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes" (Song of Solomon 2:15).
In this context Solomon has been writing inspired poetry of the love between Christ, 'the beloved' and his people, his 'dove'. He writes of a time of spring - 'the winter has past and the rain is over and gone' (Song of Solomon 2:11). New life is evident everywhere, from the singing of the birds, the appearance of flowers and the smell of the tender grapes.
Is Solomon here describing the time of new life in a Christian - a spring time? The new Christian almost feels a bewildered delight as they experience their first feelings of love and union with their Saviour. They have heard Christ calling them to him in their heart and he is their precious beloved.
The Lord continues that he wants to see the Christian's face and hear her voice, and then he encourages her, "Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes".
When I looked up this word 'tender' in my concordance it had a blank next to it! This could suggest that it was a word inserted by the translators and didn't directly come from a Hebrew word. So, I looked up 'grape', and here it appears to be the vine blossom or blooms.
So Jesus is speaking of these very early beginnings in the development of the grape, the blossom, which the foxes, the little foxes may damage - is it telling us that the new life in the new believer is to be protected, cherished and watched over - the little foxes will try and wreak havoc and make shipwreck of our faith and spiritual fruit?
My study Bible suggests an alternative translation to 'take us' the little foxes as 'catch'. These little sins need to be caught, stopped and destroyed whilst little - nipped in the bud - otherwise they may spread and get bigger until one might sadly ask us, 'Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?' (Galatians 5:7)
In a sermon I have by me the minister* firstly makes the point that these foxes need to be caught while they are little because as they grow and become bigger they can cause more damage. He identifies several 'little foxes' which might damage our 'tender grapes', our faith and relationship with Jesus:
Dear reader, do we notice anything that we are guilty of? Any little foxes that we realise may cause much harm to others and to our own faith if not caught and destroyed? Or have we until now thought that they can be indulged - they won't do any harm - just this once?
Let us come to the Lord in confession of our sins and ask for his forgiveness and help to keep us from them - for do you notice, it says 'Take us', the little foxes? The believer united to their all powerful Saviour, leaning on him for all they need.
Let us, as this above minister points out, take notice of Jesus' command to 'be watchful'.
I need to be alert, have eyes in the back of my head, be on my guard and constantly scanning the periphery of our garden for any sign of the fox.
So, we too, need to use our spiritual armour - the weapons of prayer, the reading of the Word and relying on the Lord and his promises to catch these little foxes and protect our faith and spiritual fruit from hindrance and damage.
*Solomon's Song. A series of Sermons by Philip R Kinderman
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