September 30

“We are to ‘grieve not the Spirit whereby ye are sealed...’  God knows those who have been sealed by His Spirit.  Our questions concern our willingness to keep ourselves from opening our ‘gardens’ to any but the Lord Jesus Himself!  We are to choose and our choice is to be toward Him and His lovely purpose in our lives.”  Eugenia Price, S.P.S., 9/21

Sometimes I feel as though I have a leaky seal.  I make the problem worse by attempting to patch the seal.  This is not my job.  God tells us that it is the Spirit who seals us.  Instead my job is to stop inviting others into my “garden”.  The seal cannot be broken, so the only way into my garden is over the wall.  I facilitate these “others” by providing a ladder.  Sometimes I even use the ladder to climb to the top of that wall and lend a hand to these intruders as they hoist themselves up and over.  I love the story of the “Secret Garden” where the young orphaned Mary discovers the door to the long-locked garden.  Once inside the hidden garden’s walls she finally feels she belongs somewhere.  She eventually does share the garden with her invalid cousin, but it is by way of the door.  This is a good reminder that it is God who holds the key and lets those He desires into our gardens for His purposes.  We must look only to Him for all of our companionships for only then can we be sure we have chosen wisely.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber;” John 10:1