Morning & Evening Devotional Reading–

June 18– Evening

by C. H. Spurgeon, revised and edited by W. C. Neff

“I have 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 area; it is not a wilderness; there is a wall or hedge around it. O, that the wall of separation between the church and the world were made broader and stronger. It makes one sad to hear Christians saying, “Well, there is no harm in this or that.” They seem to love getting as near to the world as possible. Grace is at a low ebb in the person who asks how far they can go into 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. Christ’s garden ought to produce the best flowers in all the world. Let us not put him off with withering and dwarfed plants. No! The rarest, richest, choicest lilies and roses ought to bloom in the place which Jesus calls his own.

The garden is also a place of growth. The saints are not to remain undeveloped, remaining 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 Gardner and the Holy Spirit the dew from above.

Lastly, a garden is a place of retirement. The Lord Jesus would have us reserve our souls as a place in which he can manifest himself in a way that he does not to the world. O that Christians were more retired, that they kept their hearts more reserved for Christ! We often worry and trouble ourselves, like Martha, with much serving. But we, like Mary, ought to create room for Christ and sit at his feet.

May the Lord grant sweet showers of his grace to water his garden today. [M&E]