"The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved." (S.O.S. 7:13)
"For ye were sometime darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light; (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) proving what is acceptable unto the Lord." (Ephesians 5:8-10)
Strange little fruits, these "mandrakes" are; they have a term, "love-apples," a term given them for the white and reddish blossoms, which produce a sweet smell. However, there is another term that is used for these, so called fruits: a cooking pot, much as you would experience when you first walk into the house as your mother was boiling apples with spices, to make you an apple pie. Blossoms and boiling, two terms that are not usually closely associated with one another; unless you are looking to produce a smell!
Taking into account that these are the words of the, "Young Woman," there is a consideration to be made that it might involve the church; it most likely also would involve Israel, as this is the mirror that the church will usually look into; the two are very closely associated with one another! I hope you realize that and understand how that works; as there is really no difference when it comes to salvation. We all are saved by the same blood: the blood of Jesus Christ!
Now is the issue of works, which are not the working of what we can do; but rather, what we can allow God to work in us! Blossoms and boiling, both occur or happen; both will make a change in the smell of whatever it is that we might be talking about, a radish or a beat, or even a turnip or a mandrake; or any man or woman; or the church and Israel. Whatever it is, it gives a smell, an odor; but most likely, a fragrance that really smells good. Goodness, righteousness, and truth; the fruit of the Spirit will produce these things to prove what is acceptable unto the Lord!
The "gates" we are speaking about are doors, if you will, that are opportunities we are given to give off these smells; whether they are produced by blossoms or boiling, which you might associate with blessings and trials, either way, fruit is produced. In season or out of season, whether you feel like it or not, you are a child of the Light: you cannot live in darkness! One way or another, the Lord will bring you out; which makes blossoms and boiling so much more relevant! Your choice: wisdom is usually not given, it is learned; and usually, the hard way!
The good news, if you are interested, is that all the fruit is pleasant! Old sins or new sins; each and every issue you have dealt with or still need dealing with; it is all laid at the foot of the cross, whether it is past or present, the matter is dealt with by what Christ Jesus has already done! There is nothing left that He must do, because it was all already done! He laid His life down, once and only once: now it is our turn to lay down ours: new or old, your choice! Please say it is finished already: reckon it's already done...
"Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:8-11)
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