The Little Foxes That (Try To) Ruin Christmas
Elizabeth Laing Thompson
“Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom.” Song of Songs 2:15 (NIV)
“The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” Zephaniah 3:17 (ESV)
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights …” James 1:17 (CSB)
“Yet I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s faithful love we do not perish, for his mercies never end.” Lamentations 3:21-22 (CSB)
“And He said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how.’” Mark 4:26-27 (NKJV)
Lord, I’m running on empty, carrying a burden that’s too heavy, and I need to hit the reset button. Give me rest from running hard and fast all year long, from working tirelessly to provide for myself, from stressing over the details of my future, and from trying to hold everything together all the time. I need rest for my weary soul. Jesus, I cast my cares on You because You care for me (1 Peter 5:7). I trade my heaviness for Your lightness, and I surrender to let You carry it all for me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
“As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.” Ecclesiastes 11:5 (ESV)
“For God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:6 (CSB)
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Matthew 7:24 (NIV)
“There is an occasion for everything, and a time for every activity under heaven …” Ecclesiastes 3:1 (CSB)
“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.” Psalm 139:13-14 (ESV)
“Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom.” Song of Songs 2:15 (NIV)
“And Mary said, ‘Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.’ And the angel departed from her.” Luke 1:38 (ESV)
“Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God …” Luke 2:13 (NLT)
“… the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.” Romans 4:17 (ESV)