November 27

The Garden Of Our Soul

In that day: “Sing about a fruitful vineyard. I, the LORD, am its keeper; I water it continually. I guard it night and day so no one can disturb it; — Isa 27:2-3 BSB

The vineyard and its Divine Keeper. God's redeemed children are compared to a vineyard. We remember our Lord’s references to the vineyard in Matthew 21:33-41 and John 15. God, our Father, is the Gardener, carefully tending, watering, and guarding His vineyard. He has no anger toward us, but toward our sins, and He continually battles against them, as a gardener pulls weeds and burns them.

God’s moment-by-moment care is our only hope. The dry winds of the world are constantly parching the tender growth of our inner life, hardening the soil of our hearts. We shrivel under the heat of prosperity, but God is always seeking to water us with His grace.

Sometimes He waters us with mist—“A mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground” (Genesis 2:6). Just as it was in Eden, so it is in our lives. The mysteries of life—its uncertainties, our powerlessness, the loss of loved ones to the unseen realm, and the unanswered questions—are the mists that soften our hearts and shape our character.

Sometimes He waters us with dew—“I will be like the dew to Israel.” In the stillness of a spring night, the air deposits its moisture in dewdrops, beautiful in the morning light. In tropical regions, the dew is so abundant that Gideon wrung a bowlful of water from the fleece he laid out. So too, the gentle influences of the Holy Spirit descend on our souls, refreshing us. We don’t always know how, but His care leaves us sweeter, gentler, and more tender. The scorching sun and heat no longer exhaust us.

Let us join in holy fellowship with God in opposing whatever is unworthy in our lives. Let us grasp His strength and make peace with Him. Then we will bud and blossom, becoming His fruitful vineyard, filling the world with refreshing fruit. “You shall be like a watered garden.” “By their fruits, you will know them.”

Prayer

Heavenly Father, forbid that we should lose the freshness, fertility, and beauty that You maintain in hearts open to You. May we be like a watered garden. Amen.