Recently my wife and I were watching a documentary on Bernie Madoff. He ran one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in modern history cheating people out of an estimated $65 million. The ended it with him going to jail and how his family paid the price for his wrongs. My wife then said, “I wonder when it all began. What was the first decision that lead to all this?” Like so many others in history who are infamous for their failures, it started with one small decision. A little compromise on their core values. Once that happens, the line of those values moves, and from there it’s a slow change into someone they don’t even recognize in the mirror.
When God had Saul anointed king of Israel, he was described as being handsome, tall and wealthy. On his way home from being told he would be king, the Spirit of the Lord came over him and he prophesied with the prophets. God helped him to defeat their enemies in battle as well. However, he began to make small compromises. He made a sacrifice which one Samuel could make because he was more worried about people than God. He then let his fear keep him from going into battle while his son went to fight. After that, he didn’t obey all the instructions of the Lord to destroy the Amalekites. When confronted, he made excuses for the compromise. Instead of repenting, he continued to compromise for the rest of his life, and the kingdom went to David.
Song of Solomon 2:15 says, “Catch the foxes, the little foxes, before they ruin our vineyard in bloom” (GNT). One of the studies I read on this verse said that the foxes represent the compromises we have hidden in our heart and prevent our growth. We’re all faced with choices to compromise what we believe for the sake of convenience or culture. When we choose to make them, we slow our growth and can allow them to destroy the vineyard of our life where the fruits of the Spirit are to be growing. Our enemy always starts with little ones and he moves the line. If you find yourself in that position today, you can respond like Saul or David. Both made compromises, but only one was repentant. The kingdom was removed from one and restored to the other. God is forgiving and slow to anger. There’s no compromise He won’t forgive. Catch the small foxes before they destroy what He’s trying to build and grow in you.
Photo by Yvon Gallant from Pexels.
Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.
Devotions by Chris Hendrix 