|
Christ's garden
(by Spurgeon)
"I am come into my garden, my sister, my
spouse." Song of Solomon 5:1
The heart of the believer is Christ's garden.
He bought it with His precious blood, and He enters it and claims it as His own.
A garden implies separation. It is not the open common; it is not a
wilderness; it is walled around, or hedged in. Would that we could see the wall
of separation between the church and the world made broader and stronger. It
makes one sad to hear Christians saying, "Well, there is no harm in this; there
is no harm in that," thus getting as near to the world as possible. Grace is at
a low ebb in that soul which can even raise the question of how far it may go in
worldly conformity.
A garden is a place of beauty, it far surpasses the wild uncultivated
lands. The genuine Christian must seek to be more excellent in his life than the
best moralist, because Christ’s garden ought to produce the best flowers in all
the world. Even the best is poor compared with Christ’s deservings; let us not
put Him off with withering and dwarf plants. The rarest, richest, choicest
lilies and roses ought to bloom in the place which Jesus calls His own.
The garden is a place of growth. The saints are not to remain
undeveloped, always mere buds and blossoms. We should grow in grace, and in the
knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Growth should be rapid where
Jesus is the Husbandman, and the Holy Spirit the dew from above.
A garden is a place of retirement. So the Lord Jesus Christ would have us
reserve our souls as a place in which He can manifest Himself, as He does not
unto the world. O that Christians were more retired, that they kept their hearts
more closely shut up for Christ! We often worry and trouble ourselves, like
Martha, with much serving, so that we have not the room for Christ that Mary
had, and do not sit at His feet as we should. The Lord grant the sweet showers
of His grace to water His garden this day.
|