Dear One,
“Get up, my dear friend, fair and beautiful … Leave your seclusion, come out in the open. Let me see you … let me hear you …” (Song of Songs 2:10-15).
Does that kind of talk send you scurrying the opposite direction, friend? Looking for cover? For a mama’s skirt to hide behind, perhaps? It does me.
“My beloved speaks to me and says, Rise up,” … and I want to slink further down, pull the covers over my head, and hide.
Yes, I know. We talked about this last week and the week before. And yes, we’re talking about it again today: Little girl, get up!
In the above passage the beloved speaks of Spring. Of everything opening, blooming and bursting to life. And then he invites the one he loves to do the same. To come out of hiding, out into the open. To be seen, to be heard, like the flowers and the birds.
Not unlike me, this reticent loved one seems to have a concern about all this opening up, and she voices it in v.15: A fear of the foxes.
“Catch the foxes for us, those little foxes that menace the vineyards, For our vineyards are so vulnerable when they are in full bloom.”
And there it is, my friend. There it is. This is why we cover and close: Our vineyards are vulnerable when in full bloom. Are you feeling this?
Dearly beloved, it is safer to stay tightly shut. If I remain dead or dormant the foxes won’t come. There is nothing for them. Yes, it is safer to stay sleeping, secluded, silent, unseen. But what then comes of your life? And what will you know of love?
Jesus once said, “I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit – fruit that will last” (John 15:16). But we can’t bear fruit when we’re afraid of the foxes.
“In that day, O joy, sing out about the vineyard most fruitful. I, the Eternal One, tend and keep this vineyard; I water and guard it day and night, protecting it against any that might wish to harm it … let My vineyard look to Me for protection and nurture; let it seek My peace; let it seek My peace. In days to come this people … will take root … and fill the whole world with fruit to enjoy” (Isaiah 27:2-6).
A vineyard most fruitful, is a vineyard most vulnerable. There is no other way. Can I entrust my care to the cultivator of it all?
Vulnerable Vineyard: Our Little Life Words of the week.
DEEPER DIVE
Ponder:
- What are the foxes that you fear?
Practice:
- Eat fruit and give thanks for the vulnerable vineyard that braved to bear it.
Play:
- Our song of the week is: Arise My Love by NewSong.
Pray:
- Dear God, call me and coax me to life.