Evening, June 18, edited from Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

“I am come into my garden, my sister, my bride.” — 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 an open common; it is not a wilderness; it is walled around, hedged or fenced in. Oh, 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 what Christ is deserving; 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, staying 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 Gardener, and the Holy Spirit is the dew from above. A garden is a place of retreat. So, the Lord Jesus Christ would have us reserve our souls as a place in which he can manifest himself, a special manifestation as he does not to the world. O that Christians were more withdrawn, that they kept their hearts more closely shut up for Christ!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 no room for Christ that Mary had, and do not sit at his feet as we should. May the Lord grant the sweet showers of his grace to water his garden this day.