You don't hear too many sermons preached on the Song of Solomon, do you? Well, there are some really good reasons for that, actually, starting with the fact that this book in the Bible covers material that's more appropriate for private counseling sessions (especially pre-marital counseling) than for general interest. However, there's one passage that I heard a message on many years ago, and it came to my mind about a month ago when we were preparing to launch into a new year, and I thought about making some of those infamous "New Year's Resolutions."
The title of that sermon I heard many years ago was "Make war on the little foxes" and it was based on Song of Solomon 2:15; Catch us the foxes, The little foxes that spoil the vines, For our vines have tender grapes.
According to the interpretation of this message I heard many years ago (which I agreed with then and still do) the "little foxes" Solomon is referring to in this passage are the little, day to day habits that we all have which don't really create any serious problems of and by themselves, but when we do these "little" things on a regular or maybe even daily basis, over time, the impact they have accumulates and end up causing us big problems.
So, as the new year 2026 approached, I thought about what "little foxes" I had in my life that I could eliminate and, by eliminating them, slowly but surely eliminate the damage they were causing to my life.
I started with some low-hanging fruit, the bag of potato chips I used to buy for myself every time I went to the grocery store. This stupid little bag of chips "only" cost me six shekels and they "only" added about 180 calories to my daily intake. I "only" bought and ate them a few times a week, sometimes less, so it wasn't really such a big deal right?
Well, in the month of January, I didn't buy that little bag of potato chips when I went to the store. Instead, I made a hashmark in a little notebook every time I went to the store and DIDN'T buy a bag of chips. At the end of January, I was shocked to see that there were 19 hashmarks in that notebook. That meant I'd not spent 114 shekels on this "little fox" and I'd also not taken in 3,240 calories I didn't need, which is an entire day and a half worth of recommended caloric intake.
What's amazing is that occasionally, as I was eating those chips, I'd stop and think about how I really wasn't even enjoying them much, but I just had this habit of buying and eating them. Now, I have stopped, and I don't miss them at all.
There were a handful of other "little foxes" that I had less success eliminating. I still wasted too much time watching stupid videos on YouTube, and I bought a few things I probably didn't need, etc. But I reduced their presence in my life, and I have hope that in February, I will reduce them even more and maybe even eliminate them. In any case, my own personal "war on the Little Foxes" will definitely continue, and I have great hopes that by the end of the year, my bank account, my physical health, my daily schedule and many other things will be in better shape then they were on January 1st.
What are some "little foxes" that you can eliminate from your life? Let me know in the comments section, or if you don't want to, just think about it for yourself and determine to make war on them. You don't need to wait for a new year to start, you can do it right now.