| Garden of the Heart |
Chapter 1 |
Page 4 |
The prayer suggests that only the Spirit of God can call out the gifts and powers of our lives. We cannot wake up the love for others in our hearts without the divine inspiration. When Henry Martyn reached India he wrote in his journal, “I desire to burn out for my God.” Such a passion can be kindled only by the divine breath. The beautiful qualities of Christian character are not mere natural graces and virtues; they are spoken of in the Scriptures as fruits of the Spirit. If our garden is to come to its true beauty, our prayer must be that the winds of God may awake and blow upon it. Nothing will bring out the life of the gardens and fields after the chill winter but the warmth of the sun. Nothing but the love of God will woo out the spiritual powers and possibilities within us. Even the Disciples of Christ, after being with Him for three years, were not ready for service until the wind of Heaven blew upon them on the day of Pentecost.
Two winds are called upon here, or rather one wind in two kinds of effect: “Awake, O north wind, and come, thou south.” The chill north wind is needed to clear and purify the air. In spiritual life there is need also for the north wind to prepare for the breath of the south wind. There is the north wind of conviction. We must become conscious of our sinfulness and realize our need of Christ before we are ready to turn to Him. David became penitent and said, “I have sinned,” and Nathan said to him, “The Lord hath also put away thy sin.” A Jewish tradition relates that at the place where David wept a day and a night over his great sin, an incense tree sprang up. Incense is the emblem of praise. The joy of salvation comes out of the sorrow of penitence. Where the volcanic dust from Mount Pelee settled after the terrible eruption, sweet flowers soon began to bloom. The ashes from great calamities make fruitful soil in human lives in which the graces and virtues grow luxuriantly. The north wind of conviction prepares the air for noble life and strong character.
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