Has not the bluebell a sweet story? Though the poem on the next page is but a fable, yet it teaches what should be, and is, the true story of the flowers in the King’s Garden. For each little “King’s Garden” on earth is a tiny bit of heaven, where the brightness and beauty of Jesus, “the Bright and Morning Star,” is reflected.

And this brings us to the next seed which the King plants in His garden—the seed of reverence and adoration, which brings forth the perfect flower of a faultless character.

Remember as you read this third commandment, that each command of the King is a seed sown in His Garden, the hearts of His children; for “the seed is the Word of God.”

“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.”

Read this carefully, and you will see that it, like the first and second commandments, is a promise. It is our Father’s promise that we shall not take His name in vain.

What is it that marks one as the child of his earthly parents? It is the likeness that he bears to them. Their image is stamped upon him, and becomes more and more plain as he grows, causing him to be recognised as their child. Their name is written upon his face, their voices are heard in his tones, and their character is seen in his actions.

It is vain indeed for us to take upon us the name of the King as a mere outward sign, to call ourselves by His name—Christians—if the flowers that grow in our heart gardens do not reflect His beautiful image, and breathe out His sweet fragrance.

But here is the King’s own precious promise that we shall not take His name in vain, or, for nothing. So if we let this Word come as seed into our hearts, it will, as it springs and grows up, write His name upon us in living characters that all may read. Then we shall be among the happy and glorious company that John saw standing upon Mount Zion, “having the Father’s name written in their foreheads.”

And the bluebell’s little story teaches us how this is brought about. How did the bluebell get its soft, clear blue colour, and the reflection of the glorious star in its bosom? It was by looking and loving. The beauty of the blue sky, and the radiance of the lovely star, attracted its gaze ever upward, and the more it looked, the more it loved. The love thus awakened and increased made it want to keep on looking, and the more it loved the more it looked. It looked and loved, and loved and looked.

“Whate’er thou lovest, man,
That, too, become thou must.”

So the lowly little flower lost itself,—its own characteristics,—in love for the blue heavens and the bright star which shone above it, ever in its sight, till at last it became but a little mirror in which they were reflected.

Notice how the beautiful flowers that grow in the King’s Garden follow each other as naturally as the flowers of spring. Each one seems to be the result of the one going before it, until the full glory of the summer pours forth its sweetness in tender homage to the King.

First come the pure snowdrops of holiness, which must be followed by the faithful forget-me-nots. For to be holy is to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy mind;” but when all the heart and mind is given to God it is impossible to forget Him. He must be ever in the thoughts, and no image or likeness of anything else, no “vain imaginations,” can take His place in the heart.

But we cannot give our whole heart and mind to the Lord and think constantly of Him, without being filled with adoration and loving worship of His matchless beauty. How, then, could we speak lightly of “that Glorious and fearful Name,” “the Lord thy God”? How could we take it thoughtlessly upon our lips in vain, for no purpose?

As we look into that wonderful mirror we told you of last week, and got glimpses of His glory, as we learn of Him through the sweet story of His life that He has given us in His Word, we shall reverence and worship Him as “the One altogether lovely.” The more we look, the more we shall love, and the more we love the more we shall look. And what will be the result? Let the bluebell tell us.

“The patient child whose watchful eye
Striven after all things pure and high,
Shall take their image by and by.”

By beholding we become changed. So our constantly looking to Jesus will write His name upon us, and we shall grow into His image, as the lovely flowers grow.

In the second commandment God tells us that we are not to have any image or likeness of anything to take His place. And then in the third He promises that we shall bear His own perfect image, telling His name by our faultless characters.

You know that the beauty of this world all comes through the sun. It is this that paints the flowers with lovely colours, and gilds everything with the glory that God has put upon it. And this is to teach us that all the beauty in the King’s Garden comes from the glorious face of “the Sun of Righteousness,” and is the reflection of His own beauty, the revealing of His image, the spelling out of His name.

As the bright sun looks down from the heavens, shining into all the corners of the earth, that it may beautify and glorify everything with its own brightness; so the true Sun, the light of all the worlds, sheds abroad throughout the whole earth the boundless love of God, to stamp His Divine image upon all who will turn their faces towards Him, and look unto Jesus.

Every child can tell what is the last part of the third commandment; but perhaps you have not seen the beautiful promise that is in it. “The Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.”

You know what guilt is, do you not? It is the stain of sin. Now of all those who have the Father’s name written in their foreheads, we are told that “in their mouth was found no guile, for they are without fault before the throne of God.” So when God says that we shall not take His name in vain, He is promising to make us guiltless, “without fault.” He will “hold him guiltless” who does not take His name in vain, for His own perfect likeness will be seen in all such.

Yes; by looking unto Jesus, all our faults will be look; they will disappear, and His graces will take their place, as the star was imaged in the bluebell’s chalice.

Then is not this a wonderful seed, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain”? Is it all that is needed to fill the King’s Garden with grace and glory? For you will notice this about these seeds: each one has within it that which will produce all the graces that grow in the King’s Garden. You cannot separate them, for they are one, as we have already seen and can all be summed up in one word, Love, which is the seed of all.

The Present Truth – June 20, 1901
E. J. Waggoner

The Kings Garden.4