Watch Out for Little Foxes!

Little foxes are so cute you wonder how they can do any damage, yet Solomon warns us that it is the little foxes that spoil the vines:

Catch for us the foxes, 

the little foxes that

ruin the vineyards.

Song of Solomon 2:15, NIV

Some years ago, Robert A. Cook, then president of the National Religious Broadcasters, wrote something that recently caught my attention: "We tend to think of our lives as being shaped by great decisions such as, for example, where shall I study, whom shall I marry, what job shall I have, what house or business property shall I buy, shall I divorce or tough it through an unpleasant marriage, shall I throw my child out because he is on drugs and steals from me, or shall I keep him at home and hope?"

Of course, all of those decisions are very important and will certainly affect the outcome of our lives. But we make hundreds of other decisions in life that turn out to be more important in terms of our life-long direction. Our real character and our final destiny are determined by the routine decisions we make every day of our lives.

Like the "little foxes that ruin the tender grapes," our seemingly insignificant daily decisions can derail even our best intentions. Some things we do without making a conscious choice. For example, we intend to check our email and get hooked playing a game. Precious time is wasted on something of no real lasting value.

We become what we repeatedly do.

--Sean Covey

I remember watching a demonstration of how habits are formed. The presenter wrapped one thread around the clasped hands of another. He easily broke the ties. Then the present wrapped many threads around the clasped hands until the person was no longer able to break the strands. A habit had been formed. Habits may be either good or bad, but they all begin with doing it the first time. Good habits require us to be intentional, whereas we can easily fall into bad habits, which, apart from the grace of God, can be difficult to break.

Here is a checklist to help us evaluate our day-to-day choices:

• Do I observe small courtesies, such as please, thank you, and what is your opinion? 
• Do I tell the truth (all of it) in love?
• Do I take the time to really listen to the other person, whether it be spouse, child, employer, employee, client, neighbor, or friend?
• Do I let Christ monitor my thoughts and daydreams, or do I allow my mind to become the garbage dump of suppressed emotions, lust, rage, malice, and covetousness?
• Do I pray every day about everything?
• Do I really put Christ first in my daily life, or is my dedication a facade which is shown periodically in church?
• Do I ask for and receive God's help when I am on the verge of losing my temper, or do I go ahead and blow my top regardless of who gets hurt?
• Do I, in the final analysis, have God and His will on my mind during my workday, or do I take a merely secular approach to living?
• Do I treat family and coworkers in a manner that demonstrates to them that Christ is real to me in my life?
• Do I use my money and my job as a ministry and exercise stewardship, or am I only interested in getting and keeping all I can? What do my daily calendar and checkbook say about my actual choices in these matters?

When I was growing up in Sunday school, we used to sing a little chorus that sums it up well:

Dig them out; get them gone; 

all the little bunnies in the field of corn:

jealousy, envy, malice, and pride, 

all the other sins that in the heart abide.

What seems small and unimportant here counts really big for eternity. Are we living with eternity's values in view? What do our daily decisions say about whom we are really serving? Let's get rid of those "little foxes" that spoil the vines.