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Editorial

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Jul 13, 1905

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 82, No. 28.

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Editorial

By Editor

Gardening

THE original home of man was in a garden surrounded by every manifestation of the goodness and power of his Creator. In spite of the weeds and thorns and thistles which have appeared as the result of the curse of sin, every garden bears testimony to the fact that the Lord has not forsaken the earth, and that his mighty power will reveal righteousness in every sinner who will submit to his working. “For as the earth bringeth forth its bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord himself Jehovah will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.” We can not explain the process by which things grow in a garden, but we are sure of the fact. By the hidden working of the same power the Lord Jehovah will impart righteousness in the life of the believer, and the evidence of his working will be equally clear in both cases. We do not refuse to plant a garden because we are unable to understand just how things grow, and we enjoy co-operating with the divine plan in the cultivation of the soil; so we should not refuse to believe in Jesus because of our inability to fathom the depths of divine wisdom in the plan of salvation, and we can take delight in being workers together with God even though we can not analyze the divine processes of growth in the Christian life. Soil and seed, planting and cultivating, are all necessary, “but unless infinite power is exercised day and night, the seed will yield no return.” In the same way, we are to work out our own salvation, but it is God that worketh in us both to will and to do. The same power which causes the earth to bring forth “first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear,” will fill us with the fruits of righteousness, if we will yield to its working. It is the Lord’s will that we should grow in grace, being called “trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.”