"Let my beloved come to his garden, and eat it's choicest fruits. I came to my garden, my sister, my bride, I gathered my myrrh with my spice, I ate my honeycomb with my honey, I drank my wine with my milk."
~ Song of Solomon 4:16b - 5:1a
Who is my Beloved? He is Christ Jesus my Lord. And where is His garden? His garden is my heart; my very soul, in which He purchased with His most precious blood.
Although I have not been able to work in my garden for the past 5 years due to severe illness, I love to garden! I simply love everything about it! I love the fragrant and distinct smell of every flower and green plant. I even love the smell of the fresh dirt, all churned up, with wiggly little earthworms, desperately trying to get out of my way. I marvel at even the earthworms God created. And I am thankful for them. When I see earthworms, I know that the soil is rich and well-maintained; waiting patiently to nourish a new seedling or plant. It is truly a joyous sight!
The first thing I like to do when I garden, is arrange the plants. I want to see what they will look like before I give them a permanent home. I want to make sure the lighting, soil and water is sufficient for what each plant requires. Some plants need much shade, some only partial. Then there are those that need full sunlight in order to thrive and survive. There are plants that need much water and others, only little. Some plants, no matter how delicate they may look, can be planted in rougher terrain than those that look to be more robust. I'd never be able to garden well if I didn't read the instructions for each plant. If I did whatever I wanted; if I planted them as I pleased, without considering the specific instructions for each plant, then my garden may look attractive for a short time, but eventually, my laziness and self-motivated care of my garden will be revealed, as the beauty of my garden will surely fade.
"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 the world."~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon
I want my heart to be this way. I want my heart to produce the most beautiful, luscious, fragrant and extravagant flowers that ever was seen! I want my life to flow with the love of God and the magnificence of His grace and mercy! I want my life to shout, "I am holy, set apart; unto the LORD!" I want my heart to hold a reservation only for One, my Lord Jesus. I want to be singularly focused and eternally inclined. I want to be like the flowers in my garden. I want to face only the Son that gives me life. I want to stretch my faith and strain my efforts to have a leaning only towards the One who gave His life for mine.
I know Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He is also the perfect Gardener. He plants me where He knows I will grow best. He waters and feeds me as I specifically need. He knows how much sun I need and He plants me where I am able to bear fruit in every season. And like some of the plants in my garden, I may look smaller than others. But by Christ's strength, I can endure, and even thrive in the roughest terrains and through the fiercest storms. Whether times of hail, snow or ice, or the heat of the scorching sun come upon me, God's grace is sufficient to make me rise -- every time. And unlike me, the Gardener of my heart is never lazy or self-motivated. So I have no need to worry; for the splendor of my heart will never fade.
"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers."
~ Psalm 1:1-3
