Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house. Be not a witness against thy neighbour without cause; and deceive not with thy lips. Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me: I will render to the man according to his work. I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.
If we spiritualize what is here said of the diligence of the man that prepares his work, and then builds his house, and what is said of the negligence of the slothful; and if we make application of it to the heart, a very sweet subject will be found to arise out of the different views. Jesus passed by our whole nature, when in the ruined state of the vineyard here described. And lo! all was covered over with thorns and briars. Reader! what he wrought, and what he accomplished, I need not, I hope, tell you. He purchased our lost inheritance, with his blood. He then hedged it round, gathered out the stones of it, renewed the face of it; and by turning up the fallow ground of our hearts, prepared it for himself. And what is it now? Doth he not water it continually with his word and ordinances, the sweet influences of his grace and Holy Spirit? Doth he not watch over it for good with his whole heart and his whole soul? And doth he not come into it, to eat of his pleasant fruits, even the graces of his Spirit which he hath planted? Precious Jesus! may my soul consider it well, and receive instruction! May I look up to thee continually as the Proprietor of all! See to it, my soul, that thou art of the vineyard of the Lord of hosts, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant. Isaiah 5:7.