Isaiah 51:3

It seems to me, I see in vision a howling wilderness, a great and terrible desert, like the Sahara. I perceive nothing in it to relieve the eye; all around, I am wearied with a vision of hot and arid sand, strewn with ten thousand bleaching skeletons of wretched men who have perished in anguish, having lost their way in the pitiless waste.

What an appalling sight! How horrible! A sea of sand, boundless and without an oasis, a cheerless graveyard for a forsaken race! But behold, and wonder! Suddenly, springing up from the scorching sand, I see a plant of renown. As it grows, it buds; the bud expands—it is a rose, and at its side a lily bows its modest head. And—miracle of miracles!—

as the fragrance of those flowers spreads, the wilderness is transformed into a fruitful field, and all around it blossoms abundantly. The glory of Lebanon is given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon. Do not call it Sahara; call it Paradise. Do not speak of it any longer as the valley of deathshade, for where the skeletons lay bleaching in the sun, behold, a resurrection is proclaimed, and the dead spring up, a mighty army, full of immortal life.

Jesus is that plant of renown, and his presence makes all things new. Nor is the wonder any less in each individual’s salvation.

There I behold you, dear reader, cast out as an infant, unswaddled, unwashed, defiled with your own blood, left to be food for beasts of prey. But behold, a jewel has been thrown into your heart by a divine hand, and for its sake you have been pitied and cared for by divine providence. You are washed and cleansed from your defilement; you are adopted into heaven’s family; the beautiful seal of love is on your forehead, and the ring of faithfulness is on your hand. You are now a prince to God, though you were once an orphan, cast away.

Oh, prize greatly the matchless power and grace that changes deserts into gardens and makes the barren heart sing for joy.