10 “My beloved responded and said to me,
‘Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along.
11 ‘For behold, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
12 ‘The flowers have already appeared in the land;
The time has arrived for [o]pruning the vines,
And the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land.
13 ‘The fig tree has ripened its figs,
And the vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance.
Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along!’”14 “[p]O my dove, in the clefts of the [q]rock,
In the secret place of the steep [r]pathway,
Let me see your [s]form,
Let me hear your voice;
For your voice is sweet,
And your [t]form is lovely.”15 “[u]Catch the foxes for us,
The [v]little foxes that are ruining the vineyards,
While our vineyards are in blossom.”16 “[w]My beloved is mine, and I am his;
He pastures his flock among the lilies.
17 “Until [x]the cool of the day when the shadows flee away,
Turn, my beloved, and be like a gazelle
Or a young stag on the mountains of [y]Bether.”
These verses paint quite the picture, with the winter gone, and the flowers appearing. Vines are in blossom, the birds are singing, there are flocks, and stags, gazelles, lilies, and… foxes? Where in the world did that come from?
Before we can explain that, we need to look a little closer, past the figs and blossoms. In the middle of all the beauty of vv. 10-13, twice the groom invites his darling to “come along”. In v. 14, he wants to see her form and hear her voice.
Then the bride flips the script in vv. 16-17. Her beloved is out pasturing his flocks, he is among the lilies, which is no doubt pleasant. Yet she urges him, “Turn, my beloved, and be like a gazelle…” In other words, “hurry home, I want to see you soon!”
In all cases, the invitation is to spend time together, and the foxes are a distraction from that. They are trying to “ruin the vineyard”, which is cultivated with time and attention. While the foxes stand out like a sore thumb, even the lilies, a good and beautiful thing, could be a distraction and delay the beloved groom from spending time with his bride.
Life offers plenty of distractions still today, and if we are not careful, the little foxes will ruin our vineyard also. Instead of intentionally spending time together, we are busy putting out fires, or enjoying the scenery–which ironically, could be done together, as it is in vv. 10-13.
So don’t let those distractions soak up your time, like the sponges that they are. Once more, be intentional, and take the time to be with your loved one(s). You can’t make more time, so make the most of what God has given you, and enjoy time together.