Nip it....

Nip it… Barney Fife’s advice to Andy was always to “Nip it in the bud. Nip it! Nip it! Nip it!!!”

There is much wisdom in that, though Barney was always a bit excitable and had a tendency to over react….

I thought about Barney as I read Song of Songs this morning. (You may know the book as Song of Solomon…and I know, that’s hard to imagine Barney and that book of the Bible in the same thought!)

“Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom.” (Song of Songs 2:15)

Little foxes were a problem for vine keepers. They nipped at the tender vines bearing new fruit. Not only did they eat the fruit, they could destroy the vine in the process. They would also dig holes, damaging the roots….just a major menace.

So….the vine keepers wanted to ‘nip it in the bud’. They purposed to catch the foxes, even the babies, and do away with them before the problem was even birthed. (…I can just hear the mournful ‘awwww….’ of all the animal lovers reading this….)

There is much wisdom in this teaching. There is much to be gained from catching the foxes before they dig the holes and tear up the vines….before they strip away the new fruit being grown on the vine.

Whether it is in our churches, in our businesses, or in our personal relationships, we are wise to do away with little foxes. Little foxes are a problem for all of us.

We are wise to agree with Barney Fife and ‘Nip it in the bud. Nip it! Nip it! Nip it!!’