NEVER BE CONTENTED
Contentment with our spiritual attainments is a real problem. After arriving at the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense, we are transferred to the mountain of Lebanon, and once there, we want to stay. However, the Lord will never allow us to stay. He will say, “Come with Me to the valley to be a garden.” Our individual spiritual attainment is only for ourselves individually. We must leave our attainment with the Lord in order to become a garden for the Lord and for others. This is the way the garden comes forth. It is not only by the adequate experiences of the Lord’s death, resurrection, and ascension, for after we have reached the mountaintop, we must answer the call from the Lord to leave our attainment and return to the place where the Lord intends to fulfill His purpose. We left the valley to go to the mountaintop of ascension; now we must go back to be a garden to grow many things for the Lord’s satisfaction. It is only there that the Lord can enjoy Himself out of us. He came into us as our enjoyment, but now we grow Him out for His enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. This is the garden.
We need to see these turning points in order to go on. When the Lord brought Peter, James, and John from the valley to the mountaintop, they saw a real vision of Himself. Then Peter said, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. Let us build some tabernacles and stay here permanently.” But not long after this the Lord took them from the mountaintop down to the valley. I believe it was after this experience that Peter gradually became a garden.
TURNING ALL THE TIME
We need all these turns in our spiritual life. We need to be turning all the time. Many turns are revealed in this book. To understand all the turns is to understand the book. Following the crown is the turn to the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense. Then this will transfer us to the mountaintop of Lebanon. But immediately we need another turn. We must return to the valley to be a garden. The garden grows the myrrh, the frankincense, the henna flower, and all the other spices. In 3:6, she was permeated with the myrrh and frankincense and all the powders of the merchant. These powders were simply all the other spices. This indicates that all the things of the Lord of which she partook are now growing out of her. They are not for her enjoyment anymore, but for the Lord’s enjoyment. The Lord will enjoy Himself grown out of her, and she will be a real supply to others. May the Lord have mercy upon us that we may be willing to turn again and again until we become a garden to fulfill His purpose.
(Life and Building as Portrayed in the Song of Songs, Chapter 9, by Witness Lee)
