Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

Our reading titled, Tend Your Garden, was written by Karen Pimpo.

I was so excited to plant our backyard fruit and veggie garden.

Then I started to notice small holes in the dirt. Before it had time

to ripen, our first fruit mysteriously disappeared. One day I was dismayed to find our largest

strawberry plant had been completely uprooted by a nesting rabbit and scorched to a crisp by the sun.

I wish I'd paid closer attention to the warning signs. The beautiful poem

in Song of Songs records a conversation between a young man and woman. While calling to his darling,

the man sternly warned against animals who would tear apart the lover's garden, a metaphor for their

relationship.

Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, he said.

Perhaps he saw hints of foxes that could ruin their romance, like jealousy, anger, deceit,

or apathy. Because he delighted in the beauty of his bride, he wouldn't tolerate the presence of anything unwholesome. She was as precious as a lily among thorns to him. He was willing to put in the

work to guard their relationship. Some of God's most precious gifts to us are family and friends.

Although those relationships aren't

always easy to maintain, with patience, care, and protection from the little foxes, we trust

that God will grow beautiful fruit.

Today's Our Daily Bread Devotional Scripture reading is from Song of Songs chapter 2 verses 8 through 17.

She, listen, my beloved, look, here he comes, leaping across the mountains, bounding over the hills.

My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.

Look, there he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice.

My beloved spoke and said to me, Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, come with me.

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