A DANGEROUS FOX TROT
Picture this. A woman running down a path with a live fox dangling from her arm by its teeth. Near Prescott, Arizona a woman was jogging when a rabid fox attacked her. The creature bit her on the foot, so she grabbed it by the neck. Then things went from bad to worse. The rabid animal latched onto her arm. The woman wanted the critter tested for rabies, so she ran a mile to her car with the fox still hanging on her arm. She pried it off, tossed it in her trunk and drove to the Prescott hospital.
As serious as this sounds, it’s hard not to smile when I picture this scene. But it’s not so humorous when we encounter “rabid foxes” in our lives. Anger over the current conditions of our world, fear of the future, and frustration over being powerless to do anything about it. These negative mindsets can be just as dangerous as running through life with a rabid fox dangling from your arm. Clamping their jaws on us, it’s nigh on to impossible to pry these “foxes” off.
Song of Songs 2:15 pictures our life as a vineyard with foxes wreaking havoc as they run through it. “Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom.” (NIV)
The answer is not to fixate on the foxes, but to rise above the troubles of this world and live in God’s peace. Colossians 3:1-3 reminds us, “Yearn for all that is above, for that’s where Christ sits enthroned at the place of all power, honor, and authority… fill your thoughts with heavenly realities, and not with the distractions of the natural realm… your true life is hidden away in God in Christ.” (TPT)
That’s not easy to do. The foxes of this world constantly snap at us, through the media and those around us. They attempt to pull us down from a heavenly mindset and distract us with the concerns of the natural realm. When that happens, we need to pause in God’s presence and turn our thoughts toward heaven. Remember that’s where our real life is. Whether it’s politics, pandemics or the pursuit of pleasure, these distractions really don’t matter. Lift our eyes above to our true life, turn away from the distractions that pull us down, and don’t get caught up in a dangerous "fox trot."
Principle: The distractions of this world pull us down from living in God’s peace.
Promise: Our true life is hidden away in God in Christ.
Ponder:
What “foxes” (distractions) of this world attach themselves to me and pull me down?
How can I rise above them?
Prayer: Lord, you promise that my true life is in you. Lift my mind above the distractions of this world and center my thoughts on heaven.
Pursue: For a deeper dive, study Colossians chapter three.
Perceptions: Record any ideas God puts on your heart from today’s devotional.