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THE LORD’S GARDEN
From Song of Solomon 4:12-14: “A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse,
a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates
with pleasant fruits, fragrant henna with spikenard, Spikenard and saffron,
Calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes, with all
the chief spices—“
In this passage Jesus is addressing His Church, His Bride, with
tenderness and admiration. He calls her “a garden”. That’s how He sees us. When
He came to live in our heart, he sowed all kind of good seeds in it. He removed
twigs and poisonous roots and He planted flowers and fruit-bearing trees. He
gave us peace, joy and blessings in exchange for wickedness, dissatisfaction and
sadness.
Are we, however, diligent keepers of our garden? Do we zealously keep it
enclosed, as our Lord would want us to?
In the book of Proverbs (4:23) we read: “Keep your heart with all
diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.”
Unfortunately sometime, carelessly, we open it and we let the enemy enter; he
tramples on it, leaving it waste and dry. A good example of this is described in
2 King 20:13-17: “ And Hezekiah was attentive to them, and showed them all
the house of his treasures-- the silver and gold, the spices and precious
ointment, and all his armory-- all that was found among his treasures. There was
nothing in his house or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.
Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah, and said to him, "What did
these men say, and from where did they come to you?" So Hezekiah said, "They
came from a far country, from Babylon."
And he said, "What have they seen in your house?" So Hezekiah answered, "They
have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasures that I
have not shown them." Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of the LORD:
'Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and what your
fathers have accumulated until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing
shall be left,' says the LORD.”
This king, ingenuously, uncovered his treasures to the Babylonian enemies. He
thought they were his friends, but he was deceived. God, rebuked him through the
prophet Isaiah and he suffered the consequences of his foolish act.
Let us be careful, therefore, not to open our beautiful
garden to the enemy of our soul; Let us be watchful lest we fall into the
deceptive trap set by the flatteries of those whose intentions are for evil and
not for good.
Satan is described as an angel of light: if there is pride in our heart, if
we walk in superficiality, we won’t recognize his schemes. Only a constant
communion with our Lord can keep us from the danger of confusing evil with good
and vice versa. The Word of God warns us: Satan comes to kill and destroy (John
10:10). He is after the precious things that God has put in our heart, like the
peace, joy and spiritual blessings. When they are missing, surely we have fallen
away from His Presence and we have opened our heart, exposing our treasures to
Babylon,
“A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain
sealed.
May the perfumes and fruits of our garden be always the delight of our
heavenly Bridegroom.
Francesca Mongini | |
