Vineyard
<<an area where grapevines are grown>>
Does my life produce sweet grapes or sour ones?
blessing. He was teaching that salvation is by grace, and given equally, regardless of the time and effort expended in His service (Mt 20:1-16). The entry into heaven is by His mercy alone but there are, however, rewards for individual labour (Mt 16:27; Rom 2:6; Eph 2:8,9).
The OT pictured the nation of Israel as God’s vineyard; sometimes it was productive and sometimes overrun and useless, not producing the expected harvest (Isa 5:7). Jesus used the same illustration in the Parable of the Vineyard (also called the Parable of the Wicked Tenants). God is portrayed as the landowner, the vineyard is the nation of Israel, the farmers or tenants are the religious leaders, the landowner’s servants are the prophets who remained obedient and preached God’s Word, the son is Jesus and the other tenants are the Gentiles or non-Jews (Mt 21:33-46; Mk 12:1-12; Lk 20:9-19). By telling this story Jesus let the religious authorities who rejected Him know He knew what they were thinking and exposed their plot to kill Him.
"Catch the little foxes that ruin the vineyards that are in bloom" refers to dealing with the irritations and destructive influences that threaten the desirable 'outcome' of what we invest our time and effort into (SOS 2:15). Ignoring or minimizing their potential effect is not the solution if you want a bountiful 'harvest'.