July 5

My sister, my bride, you are a garden locked up, a spring enclosed, a fountain sealed. — Song 4:12 BSB

The image here is of a garden, not a wilderness. The soil of a garden is cultivated—very different from the roadside or the wilderness. A garden is about careful cultivation. The ground must be prepared, plowed, softened, with all stones removed and the roots of natural growth dug up. The good things we seek are not natural growths; they won’t grow in our soil. We all start by trying to improve the old nature, but that’s not God’s way. His way is to get self out of the way entirely and create anew from nothing so that all will come from Him. We must find Jesus as the Alpha and Omega.

What we need to learn here is to die. There can be no real life until self dies. Don’t try to die on your own; ask God to slay you, and He will do a thorough job of it.

This the secret nature hideth,
Summer dies and lives again,
Spring from winter's grave ariseth,
Harvest grows from buried grain.