The Bible states that five things were to be found around the temple – For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks (1 Kings 10:22).
Then comes the ivory. This stands for undue attachment to a particular teacher, a particular textbook, or a particular church or other organization. It is a mistaken loyalty. It is an unselfish error, but a deadly one. Any religious teacher or writer, however eminent, any church or center, however much beloved, is still but a means to an end. The end itself is spiritual growth.
Recognize with gratitude all the help you receive from any source, but remember that your loyalty is due to God, through your own spiritual development. You must feel free at any time to go wherever you get the most help, irrespective of personal considerations.
The ape stands for bodily temptations such as sensuality, addiction to drink, drugs and so forth. These things are so obvious that the victim cannot deceive himself about them, so that at least he knows where he stands. They can, of course, be overcome by systematic prayer.
The peacock stands for vanity. Vanity may take the form of intellectual pride, or of a snobbish attitude, or the desire to stand in with what is fashionable and powerful. It also includes spiritual pride on the part of those who really are in Truth, and this is worse than any of the other forms.
But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness (1 Timothy 6:11).
It all seems so simple. Follow these instructions and be safe from these threats to our peace, hope and love. But the decision to live this way is very hard; and living in the way of right thinking, faithfulness, patience, etc, is always a challenge. The “world” pushes us toward these weaknesses that were are told by the Bible to flee.
The good news is that any difficulty we endure in living rightly will contribute to our best good. Further, God promises and delivers every thing we need to live his way. So the “yoke is light” compared to the hurt and pain we feel living without God.
Most importantly. The blessings we receive living in harmony with God create a place here and now where; we overcome any sacrifice, pain or hurt we experience in our journey and we live in peace, hope and joy. This is the place called Eden.
Welcome to the garden,
Z gardener
Good Morning Garden 
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