July 28

“The command of our Lord to us as Christians is that we should drive out every enemy from our hearts and lives.  If we refuse to do this and seek merely to make them tribute to us, we will find ourselves continually enslaved and oppressed by those very enemies whom we have allowed to remain.”  Hannah Whitall Smith, God is Enough, 7/28

I had a dream last night that didn’t make very much sense until I began to interpret it.  The fact that I was being driven around in a cab was pretty obvious--I was expressing how I felt about my life.  It was easy from there, then, based on the other people in the cab, to come to the conclusion that God was showing me I had an attitude problem.  With Hannah’s words I began to understand how my negative attitude was like an enemy and as long as I kept it, it would continue to wreak havoc in my life.  Once I saw all this I began to see how God had been bringing this to my attention for some time.  I recalled a verse in the Song of Solomon (2:15) that a preacher had used in a sermon more that 15 years ago:  “Catch us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom.”  Then I remembered the little fox that had run through my back yard on two different occasions and how I haven’t seen it since I saw a dead fox in the road near our house.  I feel God is showing me that I can act loving all I want to, but if my attitude toward that person is wrong, it’s like having little foxes running through my vineyard devouring my grapes before I can pick them.  The strain of battling this enemy will cause me to falter in my love which in turn leads me into defensiveness and pride.  That’s why I must drive out this enemy altogether!

“Catch us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom.”  Song of Solomon 2:15