Evening, June 18
Go To Morning Reading
“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 Saviour
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 doth 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.