“The King's Garden” (Nehemiah 3:15)

Mention of the King's Garden by Nehemiah brings to mind the paradise which the King of kings prepared for Adam. Sin utterly spoiled that Garden of delights, and exiled the children of men to work the cursed ground with their sweat (Genesis 3:18-19). Reader, remember the fall, for it was your fall. Weep, because the God of love, was shamefully ill-treated by the head of the human race, of which you belong. Behold, now Satan rules the Earth (2 Corinthians 4:4), which was once a garden of peace and contentment. 

 But there’s another garden, in which the King of kings sweated blood - Gethsemane, whose bitter herbs are sweeter to saints than Eden's luscious fruits. Consider the agony and the passion; go to the Garden of Gethsemane, where Christ said to the Father, “Your will be done”, as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). This was the garden where love triumphed over sin. 

 But today, there’s another garden of love, necessary for God’s eternal plan. Your heart. He chose you to “go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain” (John 15:16). The fruit of the Holy Spirit is “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). How’s your garden? Do you make sure the plants are trimmed and watered? Do you quickly remove the sins which so easily ensnare? (Hebrews 12:1). Are you bearing lasting fruit? 

 "He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing ... If you abide in Me, and My Words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples” (John 15:5-8).