Little compromises that cause big problems
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Song of Solomon 2:15 says, "Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil
the vines: for our vines have tender grapes." Foxes sometimes in search of
food would enter into the grape orchards and devour the grapes and spoil
the crop. However, the little foxes were too small to reach the grape
bunches so they would chew on the vines and it would kill the whole vine.
Instead of the farmer just losing his crop, he would lose his vine which
was more disastrous. Spiritually some things we do or allow that we might
think is little or insignificant can also be disastrous for us.


                     OVERCOMING PROCRASTINATION

"He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds
shall not reap." Ecclesiastes 11:4

Procrastination means we put off until tomorrow what we should do today. In
fact, the dictionary definition is "to put off doing something (unpleasant
or burdensome) until a future time; especially to postpone such actions
habitually." Being human, we all face the temptation to procrastinate. This
disposition may not seem so bad at first glance but it is a "little fox"
that will spoil our vines. 

In the Christian life, this habit in regard to spiritual things will rob of
us our devotion to Christ. The devil knows that if we pray and read our
Bibles and meet for fellowship with other Christians, we will become strong
Christians that can defeat him. This is the reason he tries to stop us from
doing these things. One of his most successful devices is to delay people
from praying, reading the Word of God and going to church. He doesn't tempt
them with the suggestion that they shouldn't do these things; he just tries
to get them to "put off" doing them until a later time. This strategy
becomes very successful as he knows that "tomorrow never comes" for most
people. 

He uses the same strategy to get people to wait about making a decision to
give their lives to the Lord. The devil knows if he can just get them to
wait until a later time, perhaps they will never make the decision and end
up in hell. There is an old adage that says, "The road to hell is paved
with good intentions." People mean to get things right with the Lord, but
the enemy will furnish them with a thousand reasons why they can wait until
later. Time is running out for all people as the return of the Lord is very
near. Bible prophecies indicate that the Lord Jesus Christ will be
returning to this earth to judge all mankind in the near future. Most Bible
students predict this event sometime around the year 2000. No man knows the
exact day or hour but we can know the season of the Lord's return by
observing the things that He said would come to pass at that time (Read
Matthew 24 in the Bible).

Now is the time that we must take action and do the things that we know the
Lord wants us to do.James 1:22 says, "But be ye doers of the word, and not
hearers only, deceiving your own selves." We must be obedient to the Word
of God if we do not want to be deceived in this hour. Many Christians have
heard the Word of God over and over. Now is the time to apply it and do it.
That is the only way we will be able to overcome the things that the devil
tries to destroy us with. 

We must conquer the tendency to procrastinate as it is an evil "little fox"
that will defeat us. We can do this by the power of the Holy Spirit. If we
will pray and ask the Lord to help us, He will not fail us. He will give us
the desire and the resolve to live the overcoming life in Him. He will send
help and make a way for us to do all that He requires of us. He is faithful
and we can be faithful too, through Him!