Ephesians 3:1 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, I have somewhere read the following incident in the life of a distinguished botanist. Being exiled from his native land, he obtained employment as an under gardener in the service of a nobleman. While he was in this situation, his master received a valuable plant, the nature and habits of which were unknown to him. It was given to the gardener to be taken care of, and he, fancying it to be a tropical production, put it into the hothouse (for it was winter), and dealt with it as with the others under the glass. But it began to decay,...when the strange under gardener asked permission to examine it. As soon as he looked at it he said, "This is an arctic plant: you are killing it by the tropical heat into which you have introduced it." So he took it outside, and exposed it to the frost, and, to the dismay of the upper gardener, heaped pieces of ice around the flower pot; but the result vindicated his wisdom, for straightway it began to recover, and was soon as strong as ever. Now, such a plant is Christian character. It is not difficulty that is dangerous to it, but ease. Put it into a hothouse, separate it from the world, surround it with luxury, hedge it in from every opposition, and you take the surest means of killing it. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,WEB: For this cause I, Paul, am the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles, |
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