There is this secret garden where God meets us, with one way in and one way out. A man stands outside, the way is overgrown – obscured and obstructed by weeds, vines and thorns. At first, he doesn’t see it, because deceit like vines grow over it and false beliefs like weeds grow and conceal the way. Then a gardener comes and cuts down the vines and rips out the weeds, exposing their roots and leaves them on the ground to dry out in the sun. Now he sees the way into the garden; now he knows it’s there. But the way is narrow and passes through a hedge that encloses this garden, and this hedge has thorns. See, this garden isn’t designed to be stumbled into but intentionally sought out. He, wanting to see what’s inside but recognizing the difficulty of passing through a way lined with thorns, decides against entering and moves on. Stepping in is hard and moving on is hard too.
Time passes, the vines begin to grow over and the weeds begin to sprout. One day, he happens upon this same way into this secret garden, it’s barely recognizable – obscured by the vines and obstructed by the weeds. Before he can move on, a gardener comes and cuts down the vines and rips out the weeds, exposing their roots and leaves them on the ground to dry out in the sun. Now he sees the way into the garden; now he remembers it’s there. But the thorns are there too. Perhaps he decides to enter, stepping in is hard; perhaps he decides to move on again, moving on is hard too. Whatever he decides, he does so knowingly, not by coercion or deception. The gardener is the evangelist, clearing the way so that all that keeps him out is his choice, and whatever it costs to step in is his to pay. If he steps in, because of the narrowness of the way and because he is fat of the food of the world outside the garden, it is painful for him to pass through, the thorns tear much off him as he does. Inside, he eats of the fruit of the garden and becomes leaner, so that when he passes out and in through the way it is still painful, but less so. The more time that this man spends inside the garden, the smaller he becomes and the easier it is to enter in.
The preacher can’t reason true faith into you, but he can reason deceit out of you so that you can put your faith in what is true.