Many are hindered in their victorious life by the "little foxes which spoil the vines." Their spiritual wall which surrounds them seems to admit so many of the aggravating cares, that they find themselves frequently overcome thereby. "Salvation, will God appoint for walls and bulwarks" (Isa. 26:1). "But thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise" (Isa. 60:18). When we remember that "God is our salvation," and "Our God is a consuming fire," and this God, the consuming fire, is the wall of salvation around us, we believe the wall is so high that the devil's little foxes can not jump over it; so thick they can not bore through it, and so deep they can not dig under it. This is surely a blessed protection for those on the inside. But the promised protection of God is still more. He will insphere His trusting child and make him doubly safe, and make his surrounding simply glorious. Notice the divine insphering: "As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people from henceforth even forever" (Psalm 125:2). Here is the Lord all around us. "Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved" (Psa. 16:8). The Lord is by our side. "Underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deut. 33:27). The Lord is beneath us. "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty" (Psalm 91:1). The Lord is over us. And we are also taught that we may abide in Him and He will abide in us. Think of this marvelous protection: the Lord all around us, by our side, underneath us, over us, in us and we in Him. Then shall we allow the trifling things of earth to conquer us and spoil our experience? How often we hear one say words like this: "I wouldn't give up my experience for all the world," and then possibly in an unguarded moment go down over something not worth a quarter. We once heard of a sailor that had braved the sea and storms for years, and finally got drowned in a bucket of water. While drinking he had some fit or accident which caused him to fall, so that his face was buried in the water and he was strangled to death. Be careful of the little things; they are sometimes more dangerous than the bigger ones. A brother was once accosted by one of the Lord's workers and asked how he was getting along in his Christian experience. He replied that he got along very well usually through the day, but when he went home from his work in the evening, his wife nagged at him so much that he invariably lost out. He would be blessed along through the day, but when that nagging spirit of his wife got started, even though he would hold out for some time and keep the victory, yet as sure as he would open his mouth, the victory was gone. He told the worker that he had an experience like a pelican. He then described how the pelican would start out in the morning and load up its big pouch with fish, and then in the evening it would start for home, whereupon the little birds would get after it and peck it first on one side of the bill and then on the other, till the poor pelican would throw its head around from one side to the other, and finally its mouth would fly open and out would go the fish, which was just what the birds were after. He said he had a pelican experience; that he would get along well through the day, but the constant annoyance of the wife in the evening would finally cause him to open his mouth, and away would go his victory. Many a blessing has been lost, simply by opening the mouth. It is much harder sometimes to keep the mouth shut than to open it. "So he openeth not his mouth," was the attitude of Him who was our example.
CHAPTER XVII
THE PALM TREE WILL NOT ADMIT OF GRAFTING
For many years the process of grafting has been known and practiced by horticulturists. This is accomplished by taking a scion, usually of the previous year's growth, from a shrub or tree, and inserting it into another shrub or tree more or less closely related to the first. It must be so inserted that the cambium layer of the scion, that is, the layer of formative tissue between the bark and natural wood, is closely united to that of the stock. In time, these two parts grow together into a perfect union. The scion thus inserted will derive its life and strength from the original root and stock, but will bear its fruit according to the nature of the scion.
When we come to the palm tree, we find something that is opposed to this method and will not respond. It will not yield to any mixture. It has not the qualifications that admit of grafting processes. It can neither be grafted in with any other tree, nor can any other tree be united with the palm. It will not mix. It is an endogenous tree, and the cambium layer does not obtain. It has no joining tissue that can be thus united with any other plant.
Did the Omniscient Inspirer of the Word make any mistake when He said, "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree?"
The Word of God is diametrically opposed to unholy mixtures. Hear the word of the Lord in Deut. 22:9-11. "Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds: lest the fruit of thy seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit of thy vineyard, be defiled. Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together. Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woolen and linen together."
Who has not seen the evil effects of mixing the planting of various seeds together, such as melons and pumpkins, or other incompatible varieties? Why not yoke an ox and an ass together? They are neither mated in size, breed, nor disposition. It makes a lopsided pair. One is classed with the clean animals, and the other with the unclean. We once saw an oriental picture in the back part of a Bible where some native was plowing with an ox and an ass together, and they had the appearance of being ashamed of themselves. It looked as if the poor plowman would have a hard job to get any work out of the pair.