The Bungee Cord 3-8-21

Hello,

 

There’s a fox around!

 

A couple of days ago as my wife was walking around our property, she saw something move out of the corner of her eye.  With a quick turn of her head, she spotted the sleek, reddish-brown, furry tailed critter.  A fox!

 

In truth, they are rather beautiful animals, but they are not the animal you want to see roaming nearby if you have chickens.  Foxes love chickens…. love to kill them, that is.  We have had our run in with foxes.  Sometimes they have managed to strike one chicken, leaving a flurry of feathers on the ground, and carrying the chicken off to the den of awaiting pups.  Once, however, the fox got to all of our chickens (6) in one killing spree.  Most of the day, the chickens are in a fenced in area that has an electric fence, which the fox avoids.  But in the evening, my wife lets them roam around our yard (our dog, a bird dog, is, of course inside…. much to his dismay).  Their roaming makes them prime targets for any fox….and there is a fox around!

 

Interestingly enough, we find out from Scripture that Jesus, unlike chickens, is not afraid of foxes.  Some people came up to him one day, and told him that he needed to leave because King Herod was out to kill him.  To which Jesus said, ‘Go and tell that fox for me,^* “Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. ³³Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed away from Jerusalem.”

 

Jesus was not afraid of foxes!  As a matter of fact, when he went in to Jerusalem, he knew he was walking right into the fox’s den.  The reason that Jesus didn’t fear foxes is because he was driven by the reckless compassion of God for God’s people.  No fox was going to keep Jesus from saving God’s people, Jesus loved them too much.  Consider what a mother would do if she knew her child was in a burning home?  That is the kind of love that drew Jesus right into the fox’s den.

 

Remember that when you find yourself hunted by a fox …. the pressures of your world, the things that stain and stink up your life, the failures that deflate your soul, the illness that is drooling with hunger …. Remember, that because Jesus loves you more than you can ever imagine, Jesus is not afraid of those foxes.  And those foxes better look out, because Jesus will march with you right into those foxes’ dens!

 

Herod, that fox, caught Jesus, and he thought that he had gotten rid of Jesus when Jesus hung on a cross. But Herod was wrong!  There is another reason that Jesus isn’t afraid of foxes: foxes are no match to Jesus.  Herod pulled out all of the stops.  He crucified Jesus and sealed Jesus in a tomb.  But Jesus, with the power of God almighty, sat up after three days in that tomb, and he walked out of that tomb like a football player busting through a paper banner.  Foxes may be sly and determined, but they are no match to the power and determination of Jesus.

 

So, when a fox is around, listen to Jesus say to you, “Go tell that fox that he’s in trouble, because I, Jesus am here with you, and I am not afraid of a fox!”

 

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger