"I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved" (Song 5:1).
Many believers are ignorant of, or aloof towards, the idea that we are the garden of the Lord. You and I are His garden - the very place where His fruit is born, cultivated, pruned and matured. We are God's garden, separated, enclosed, and protected from the world. But what is the purpose of a garden?
Jesus longs to reside there.. Simply said, a garden is a place to be visited and delighted in. In the Song of Solomon, upon the Shulamite's proposal (Song 4:16), the Lord quickly answers, "I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse" (Song 5:1). Such is a speedily answered prayer.. and why? It's because Jesus longs to dwell and reside in the garden of her heart. The bride cries "come", and He comes! To Him, there must be no greater place to reside; there must be no greater longing pulsating through the Divine Heart, for His own holy blood is the title deed which purchased that precious garden plot, paid in full. Now His garden is to be the place of perpetual communion, the "bed of spices" (Song 6:2) which lovingly flow from our hearts to His! What a habitation! What a choice place! He has chosen this people to Himself (Ps 135:4; Isa 43:21; Eph 1:18), so why wouldn't He want to reside there? "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me... and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him" (Jn 14:21-23). And again Jesus said, "He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him" (Jn 6:56). Jesus longs to reside in your garden!
Jesus longs to feed there.. A residence would be incomplete if there were not also a feasting! Not only does the Lord long to reside and dwell with you, in the garden of your heart, but He also longs to feed upon the gracious goodness's which He has brought forth: "Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits" (Song 4:16). There is no greater house guest than the Lord of Hosts! There is no greater reason to allow God's fiery pruning than to possess real fruit for Him when He comes (Ps 1:1-3; 72:16; etc).. "Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing" (Ps 92:13-14).. Remember the barren bush (Matt 21:19)? Jesus cursed it because it had no fruit, but leaves only (Jude 12)! Remember the fruitless vineyard (Isa 5:1-2)? It brought forth mere "wild grapes". Friends, God is looking for real substance - He is searching for diligent, genuine hearts! And why? Because He wants to feed upon much fruit: "My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies" (Song 2:16). Jesus longs to drink from your plentifully "watered garden... whose waters fail not" (Isa 58:10-11). Will we offer Him a substantial drink today?
And how do we suppose Jesus finds fruit to feed upon? How is real and plentiful fruit to be cultivated and ripened in the hearts of God's people? Reader, it's only by His pruning! A garden left untended will quickly become a wild, weedy and worthless wasteland - having nothing to offer! But a garden carefully tended to by the counsel of Scripture will be one in which the Master will always find fruitful delight! "Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby" (Heb 12:11). There are no shortcuts; There are no detours. To repeatedly strive to take shallow shortcuts to fruitfulness is to make your substance bitter upon Divine tastebuds! And who would willingly want that? A vineyard must first be pruned before real fruit can be gathered and eaten by it's caretakers (Lev 25:3). Jesus said, "Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit" (Jn 15:2).
Jesus longs to share His fruit.. Men are mistaking if they assume the fruit wrought in them is for them alone. Of course, it benefits the garden, but it also is to feed the nations! Of course God has the chiefest place - He is the very foundation of all that is birthed, and is the Chief recipient too, "for the Lord's portion is His people" (Deut 32:9). However, what God does in you, He would also like to do through you. He's turning your desert into a garden, your wilderness into Eden, and for good reason (Isa 51:3). What He picks as choice fruit is to likewise be spread throughout the earth: Of this fruit, He says "eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly..." (Song 5:1). What a marvelous thought to ponder! God wants you to become fruit for the nations to partake of - not only fruit for God Himself, but fruit for His many friends! "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples" (Jn 15:8). The earth is waiting to see such a fruitful people, budding as King Jesus, possessing His scent (Ps 45:8), His character (Gal 4:19), His image (2 Cor 3:18), and His fruitfulness: "For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations" (Isa 61:1).
"Oh to be the garden of God - there's no greater honor, and no greater cause.
I'm watered and pruned with God's holy fire - the idols torn down, the filth and the mire.
Planted with goodness, seeded with promise - my fruitfulness budding, my scent by His furnace.
My visage is different, there's coming an end - fruit for my Master, and fruit for His friends!
Oh to be the garden of God - there's no greater honor, and no greater cause!"
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