Staying Alert!

I love the outdoors and God has blessed me with a house that backs up to a wooded area. I usually take a walk in the woods every morning. I have cleared a lot of trails in the woods, and usually keep them raked of rustling leaves so I can walk silently and observe all the creatures that God has created. If you spend any time in the outdoors, you have probably heard the animals making all types of noises. Almost all types of animals have some way of communicating with each other. As I was walking in the woods this morning, I detected an angry chattering from a squirrel. The closer I got, the more squirrels joined in the fussing. They were clearly very disturbed by something. Sometimes you hear two squirrels chasing each other and barking, but this was clearly more than two squirrels and they were very upset. I slowed my walk and quietly continued down the winding trail. I paused as I stepped around a corner, and saw what the squirrels were upset about. Sitting in the middle of the trail, and staring up at a bunch of squirrels was a very disgusted fox! Fortunately for the squirrels, at least one of them was alert and saw the hungry fox before he could pounce on one of them. By the time I arrived every animal within 100 yards was alerted to the hungry fox. All the squirrels lived to eat again the next day! The fox went off hungry, his plans for a tasty meal spoiled by an alert squirrel!

  The Bible talks about the “little foxes that spoil the vines.” Foxes are one of the smaller predators in the outdoors, but they can still cause a lot of havoc. Just as the small foxes cause havoc for the wildlife, there are many small things that can spoil the “vines of our lives.” We need to be alert and vigilant for the “foxes” that come after us. Evil temptations can overtake us if we are not careful. In I Thessalonians 5 Paul talks about the “end times” and warns us to “watch and be sober”.

At times our fellow Christians get so busy that they may not see or hear the “fox” coming. As Christians we need to also watch out for our fellow Christians, just as the first squirrel that spied the fox and warned the other squirrels. Ezekiel 33 talks about the “watchman” whose job is to warn the people of danger and reminds the watchman that he will be held accountable if he see “danger” and fails to warn the people. Live for God and stay alert to the dangers in your spiritual life!