“Let my beloved come to his garden, and eat its 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 (ESV)
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 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.
Some plants need much shade, some only partial. Some plants 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. 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 will be revealed, as the splendor of my garden slowly fades.
“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 and luscious flowers! 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 only face the Son. 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 plants me where I am able to bear fruit in every season. And like some of the plants in my garden, though I may look smaller than others, Christ’s strength endures me through the fiercest storms. Whether hail, snow, ice, or heat from 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.
What do you need to trust Jesus for today?
“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 (ESV)
By Sunny Shell, About My Father’s Business-John 15:13
Leave a Comment
Holley Gerth says
How is it that I never figured out my heart is God’s garden? I thought of Eden or eternity, but yes, it makes so much sense to think of our hearts that way–especially in Song of Solomon. So grateful for that new insight, Sunny!
Sunny says
Hi Holley,
Thank you, you’re so kind. I never thought of my heart as Christ’s garden either until I read Spurgeon quote(in on of my devo books) that I shared in this post. I’m thankful to the Lord for showing me this to me as well. π Our God is truly an awesome, kind and loving God! β₯
Beth Williams says
What a timely post! Just what I needed to har at this time!
“The genuine Christian must seek to be more excellent in his life than the best moralist, because Christβs garden ought to produce the best flowers in the world.β
~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon~
He plants me where He knows I will grow best. He waters and feeds me as I specifically need. He plants me where I am able to bear fruit in every season.
Two very good quotes. I want my heart to produce the best flowers ever – be the most “out there” Christian I can be just where he planted me!!
Sunny says
Oh, I’m right there with you Beth! I want to be “out there” too…all for the glory of our most magnificent Savior! β₯
LauraLee Shaw says
Oh Sunny, God gave me the perfect Word I needed for my heart and soul this morning, right here, right now.
These are the words that I need to trust my Jesus for today:
“I want to be singularly focused and eternally inclined. I want to be like the flowers in my garden. I want to only face the Son. I want to stretch my faith and strain my efforts to have a leaning only towards the One who gave His life for mine.”
Thank you for being faithful to communicate His Word in spirit and truth.
Sunny says
PRAISE THE LORD Laura! I’m so grateful that God has allowed me to participate in His eternal work today! What an honor and joy it is to serve the King of kings!
Love you sis!
Sunny
Rita Garcia says
You’ve blessed and inspired me with your beautiful words straight from the heart of God! Hugs, Rita
Sunny says
Thanks sweet sister Rita! I love you!β₯
Jenni Saake "InfertilityMom" says
Thank you for the beautiful thoughts. I wanted to encourage you that I understand about not being able to garden due to health. Here’s an article I wrote a couple years back:
http://harvestinghope.blogspot.com/2009/04/given-thorn.html
Sunny says
Wow Jenni,
You have a beautiful testimony! Thank you for including the link in your comment! I really enjoyed reading your post as well as our story of invisible chronic illness. I’m so delighted you have a name for it now. But I know it doesn’t help much, does it?
I too have an “invisible” chronic illness and have for the past 7 years which has included 2 surgeries (w/in 7 months of each other) countless procedures and more specialists than there are colors in the rainbow! π
But the Lord has blessed all my doctors with much wisdom and they all work together well and I get my blood check at least every 3 months (if I last that long). The long and short of it is, they may finally have found a name for my illness as well, but that doesn’t change anything as there’s no cure. But my docs have all worked together and by God’s grace and mercy they’ve come up with a combination of large prescription dosages of vitamins and enzymes for me to take to help me live (literally) daily. Most of my organs no longer function properly so I have to daily take these vitamins and enzymes to “feed” my body to live.
God is awesome! And I SO know what you mean!
I’ll be praying for you sister! So glad to “meet” you! Oh, and btw, I “look” VERY healthy…some even say decades younger than I am (I’m nearly 42), but my insides function more like an 80 year old. π
Bless you dear sister,
Sunny
Mike Gendron says
What a great encouragement to begin the new year. After reading your beautiful exhortation I realize my garden needs some work and attention so that my Lord will be glorified and His light will shine more brightly on the fruit that He might produce in me. Thank you Sunny!
Sunny says
Brother Mike,
Thank YOU so much for your encouragement today! We’re looking very forward to having you and Jane over for dinner soon!
We continue to be encouraged by your ministry to help all Christians share the Gospel of our awesome Savior!
nano says
Hallelujah!
Oh taste and see that the Lord is good!
Thank you, my sweet sister!
Sunny says
Oh YES Nano! Let us ALL taste and see how good our Lord is…for He is beyond wonderful!
I love you!
Sunny
Darlene Schacht says
Sunny, that was so beautifully said. It teaches me also to love those plants surrounding my space, that I won’t choke them out or cast shade upon them, but that we will grow together according to each his own purpose. I pray for love among those in Christ and for a deep understanding of God’s Word.
Sunny says
Hello sweet sister Darlene!
I never thought of it that way. Yes, we should also be considerate of others and not “cast shade upon them”, but prayerfully consider what we can do to exhort them to live their utmost for God’s highest. Thank you for sharing this perspective. β₯
And I pray in agreement with you sister, that we may all love one another as Christ has loved us, so that the world may truly know that we are HIS disciples (John 13:34-35).
Love you sis!
Josy Dell says
That is the most beautiful poem. i love to garden alosi but never thought of it the way the poem reads. Thank you for the inspiration and God Bless You + + +
Sunny says
Thank you sweet Josy, I’m delighted to know the Lord inspired you through this post today. Bless you dear sister. π
Jim Shell says
More beautiful words of wisdom from my beautiful bride, my ever-ready helper who is good to remind me when needed to be content, hard at work for the Lord, and trusting Him for all things. You are a blessing to me because you love Christ more than you love me, and that is a very, very good thing for a man. May God continue to be honored in all that you do.
Sunny says
Oh….wow, sweetheart. I don’t know what to say.
I’m so blessed you love Christ more than you love me. That’s a good thing for any woman. π I love you so much my Favorite, Favorite!β₯
Josy Dell says
Here is a a poem I would like to share wih all of you, Its called the M&M poem
Red is for the color of the blood that Jesus gave when he died for our sins so that we could be saved
Brown is for the color of the cross on which he died
Orange is for the color when Jesus came back alive
Green is for the color of our new life
Blue is for the color of the sky our new home up in heaven
Yellow is for the color of the sun where Jesus God’s son rules from on high
The color’s reminds us of God’s love and we’re forgiven and have a home up above
Amen and God Bless
For holidays I have typed this poem and bought bags of M&M’s and holiday decorated ziploc bags and given them out to our church and freinds.
Sunny says
Thank you for sharing this sweet sister Josey. May the Lord continue to bless you as you seek His face and share Christ’s love with others. β₯
Andy Samuel says
Sunny, I visited your website for the first time and the first things that struck me was…Gosh! you are so beautiful…worth thousand poems. I am sorry..I had to say this. And your analogy of heart and garden was just brilliant.
Thanks.
Amanda K says
Sunny, that was beautifully written! Thank you for that analogy.
Sunny says
Thank you sweet Amanda! May the name of Jesus be exalted in our lives, with every breath. π