"The Prayer" -2

 "Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits." (S.O.S. 4:16)

  Today, I feel the need to draw attention to this little elephant in the room, the phrase, "blow upon my garden." I have tried to practice, sometimes with success, the fact that nothing I have is mine, and all I have belongs to the Lord; but in this case, I feel as though there is caution that we do not overlook the strange and very obvious fact of what this garden represents. First of all, we are not spectators in this walk, as though we can just admire what God does and at the same time enjoy the fruits of what others do around us; we are active participants in the work God is doing, and we will be judged accordingly! 

  I would like to take this time to examine a very familiar parable that Jesus shares; commonly known as the, "Parable of the Talents." Without getting too deep into the meaning of what those talents represent, or trying to evaluate any principle in the way that those talents were used; I want to examine what happen when they were given to those servants, and how, that when they were given them, they became their talents to be used in a way that they might have seem fit to use them, but not forgetting, they were holding a portion of all that the master had, as he gave them everything to watch over while he was gone. 

  The more I think about that, the more I feel as though I have neglected doing all I could with what I have been given; treating these talents, however many they might be, as if they were His, they have been not used properly because they were not properly put to use. You would think that after all of these years of running my own business I would have seen it for myself. But, if you are focused upon doing something in the sales world, you sometimes forget about how that works in the saving souls world! 

  So, as I have witnessed this in the world I am familiar with, without using names, I will give you an example of how this works. I own a Termite and Pest control business, and for almost 12 years I had a man that worked for me who I let run the Pest Control side of the business, while I focused upon the Termite Control side. For every bit of those 12 years, the Pest route was hardly grown or produced any more than what could be easily handled by this one man; case in point, because it was not his, so he did not concern himself with making it grow. 

  Once I sold him that portion of my company, he has grown it to at least 5 to 6 times that which it was when it became his, five years ago. This happen because it was no longer mine, but his; a thing that made it, his garden, if you will; a place where he was responsible for what it produced, as well as being the one to benefit from the harvest; as well as the one that might suffer in taking care of it. There is the whole point of what this parable represents: We are the one that benefits, whether in good and in bad, from the way we work this garden! "For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath." (Matthew 25:29)

  This is about the garden that the Lord has given you to work and care for; each and every part of this is something you are responsible to work: you till the ground, you pull out the weeds, you trim the trees and keep it all green. All that is given you, is yours to use for your benefit, to enjoy the fruits of your labor, and to experience the joy, peace, and love that comes with every 'spice' that flows out of, all that you do. The main thing to keep in mind, is that it might be yours to work, but He owns the property that the garden is on: no matter what, He is and always will be the Master...

"Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be glorified together." (Romans 8:12-17)