Holy Spirit would you show me areas in my life that reflect pride and idolatry?

(He affirmed me saying) “There is no stronghold of pride or idolatry but you should always be on guard against these evils. Attitudes of your heart will spring up and test the waters. Will you take them captive through confession and repentance; submitting yourself once again to our Lordship? Do not for a minute entertain these thoughts or dismiss them as a weak moment. You will know when something is said or done in pride. Little foxes spoil the vineyard!”

Song of Songs 2:14-15
My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places on the mountainside, show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely. Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom.

What an incredible passage of scripture! This is a depiction of a love relationship that has been separated by sin. Christ is the lover portrayed in this passage calling out to his Beloved, the church. You have hidden yourself from me in the mountainside, in the cleft of the rock. Today he would say; you have hidden yourself in your work, with addictions to food and alcohol, in the busyness of your day. Please, my beloved, come out! Show me your face; I desire to hear your sweet voice! Do not let sin separate you from me any longer.

Look at this beautiful picture of Christ our Lord. He is so tender, so gentle towards you and me. This reminds me of the Garden of Eden and what took place there between Father God, Adam and Eve.

Genesis 3: 6-10
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

Wow! I love the scriptures! They are so appropriate for twenty-first century believers. They are timeless in wisdom. Let’s take a closer look at this passage. Adam and Eve were conscious for the first time in their lives that they were naked. The glory of God that had been their covering had departed from them. God had given them free reign in the garden except for eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When they made the decision to eat from this tree; that is when sin entered and separated them from God.

Look at what they did immediately upon eating the forbidden fruit and discovering they were naked. They came up with a remedy for their nakedness. They sewed fig leaves together and made clothes for themselves. Can we all say yes and amen! I have been there and done that! We sin and there are always consequences to our actions; so we begin thinking of ways to remedy the problem. Sometimes it is lying to try and cover it up; other times it is going deeper into debt to try and fix the first mistake. All the time avoiding the very One who says, “come to me!” “I have the remedy.”

Let’s look at God’s remedy for Adam and Eve’s sinfulness.

Genesis 3:21
The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

God slaughtered an animal and covered their nakedness or sin with a bloody hide. In Hebrews 9:22 it reads, 'for without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin." God was not only making provision for their sin, but he was instituting a new sacrament called Atonement. He is a good example of how we are to discipline our own children in patience and love. He basically said, “Yes, you messed up royally but I have made provision for your mistake.”

The bloody hide applied to them reinstated their position with the Father. They again had access to him. This is of course a type and shadow of what was to come in the New Covenant between Christ and his church. God set a precedent of what we are to do when we sin. Sin separates us from God. The Old Covenant given to Moses by God instructed him to appoint priests who would, on a yearly basis, make atonement for the people’s sin through sacrificing animals. The blood of Jesus in the New Covenant restores relationship between man and God. Going back to the original text in Song of Songs; Christ our Lover is saying to his Beloved in verse fifteen.

Catch for us the foxes the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards in bloom.

He is passionately saying to his Beloved the church - Do not let sin take root! The sins you consider to be little are those that chip away at your steadfastness, the attitudes of your heart, your actions in secret. These will spoil and taint our relationship. He is saying that you have fruit-filled lives that are so precious to him. Don’t leave sin unchecked. There has been given to us a remedy for sin. His name is Jesus and he shed his blood on the cross at Calvary to atone for our sins. Seek the Lord, repent, confess, and acknowledge your sin. He will apply the blood and restore you completely. You have never gone too far for his blood to cleanse you and restore you back to fellowship.