Catch the Little Foxes

Our Daily Bread Podcast | Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread Ministries

Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.6 • 955 Ratings

🗓️ 27 June 2025

⏱️ 4 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

“It’s the little foxes that spoil the vine,” my grandmother used to say. Then my mom repeated the same thing. And now I say it to my own children. But what does it mean to beware of “the little foxes”?

After planting grapevines, it can take several years before they bear fruit. The vines require a lot of patience, care, watering, pruning, and protection. Foxes—even though small—can cause major damage by destroying the roots, eating the grapes, or chewing the stalk.

In the poetic love story of the Song of Songs, Solomon warns, “Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards” (2:15). Some scholars believe this refers to seemingly small problems or behaviors that could threaten the young man and woman’s relationship if left unchecked.

This warning also holds instruction for our spiritual journey. Little things like bitterness (Hebrews 12:15), “unwholesome talk” (Ephesians 4:29), or even harmful influence from others (1 Corinthians 15:33) can slip into our lives and hardly be noticed.

My grandmother understood that little things can cause great harm, and her wisdom spoke volumes to her grandchildren. As we spend time in prayer and reading the Scriptures, the Spirit will help us avoid the “little foxes”—the temptations or habits that might spoil our relationship with others and our walk with Christ.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruined the vineyards.
0:06.0	Song of Songs chapter 2, verse 15.
0:11.8	Welcome to this daily encouragement from our daily bread.
0:16.5	Catch the Little Foxes was written by Brent Hackett and read by Wes Ward.
0:21.6	Song of Sogs, Chapter 2, verses 8 through 15.
0:27.6	Listen, my beloved, look, here he comes, leaping across the mountains, bounding over the hills.
0:34.6	My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look, there he stands behind our wall,
0:42.4	gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice. My beloved spoke and said to me,
0:48.9	Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, come with me. See, the winter is past. The rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on
0:58.4	the earth. The season of singing has come. The cooing of doves is heard in our land. The fig tree
1:06.0	forms its early fruit. The blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come, my darling, my beautiful one,
1:15.0	come with me. My dove in the clefts of the rock in the hiding places on the mountainside,
1:21.1	show me your face. Let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet and your face is lovely. Catch for us the foxes. The little foxes
1:31.9	that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom. Catch the Little Foxes, written by
1:42.4	Brent Hackett.
1:49.2	It's the little foxes that spoil the vine, my grandmother used to say.
1:54.4	Then my mom repeated the same thing, and now I say it to my own children.
1:59.0	But what does it mean to beware of, the little foxes?
2:04.1	After planting great vines, it can take several years before they bear fruit.
2:10.2	The vines require a lot of patience, care, watering, pruning, and protection.
2:19.0	Foxes, even though small, can cause major damage by destroying the roots, eating the grapes, or chewing the stalk.
2:26.7	In the poetic love story of the Song of Songs, Solomon warns, catch for us the foxes,
	...

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