Rose of Sharon | Let’s Chat

Welcome, everyone. Let’s chat about Rose of Sharon.

Family tragedies and health issues have sapped my emotions and strength the past four years. That means I’ve neglected a LOT around the house. Gardening is part of that lot. Clearing away the dead and planting the new. Fertilizing. Pulling weeds. Spreading mulch. And while stumbling around on uneven ground trimmed in river rocks, falling eye-first into a stone ledge on the exterior wall of the house. Ouch! (Fortunately, I’m OK now.)

Gardening is demanding, but it brings me peace as well. It gives me time to mull. Pray. And consider God’s magnificent creation. Today I stepped outside early (a prerequisite in  Texas this time of the year) and discovered one of my favorites—the Rose of Sharon—in bloom. The blossoms touch a tender spot in my heart. And I know why.

Rose of Sharon

The second chapter of Song of Songs refers to this flowering plant: “I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.” It has come to be known as one of the names for Christ. Hence, it’s the subject of the old hymn, “Jesus, Rose of Sharon,” written by Ida A. Guirey in 1922. 

Jesus, Rose of Sharon, bloom within my heart;
Beauties of Thy truth and holiness impart,
That where’er I go my life may shed abroad
Fragrance of the knowledge of the love of God.

Refrain:
Jesus, Rose of Sharon,
Bloom in radiance and in love within my heart. 
Jesus, Rose of Sharon, sweeter far to see
Than the fairest flow’rs of earth could ever be.
Fill my life completely, adding more each day
Of Thy grace divine and purity, I pray.

Jesus, Rose of Sharon, balm for every ill,
May Thy tender mercy’s healing pow’r distil
For afflicted souls of weary burdened men,
Giving needy mortals health and hope again.

Jesus, Rose of Sharon, bloom forevermore;
Be Thy glory seen on earth from shore to shore,
Till the nations own Thy sov’reignty complete,
Lay their honors down and worship at Thy feet.

So, guess what I’m humming to myself today. Yep. “Jesus, Rose of Sharon.”

By the way, Sharon is the Mediterranean coastal plain between Joppa and Caesarea. In the time of Solomon it was a place of great fertility. Look at the lovely spiritual applications of this rose in “Jesus, Rose of Sharon”:

• Bloom in radiance and in love within my heart 
• Beauties of thy truth and holiness impart
• Fragrance of the knowledge of the love of God
• Grace divine and purity
• Balm for every ill
• Tender mercy
• Health and hope again
• Bloom forevermore
• Glory from shore to shore
• Lay down honors and worship at His feet

When I garden, I think of the magnificence of Creator God. When I gaze at the latest Rose of Sharon bloom, I think of the radiance, love, beauty, hope, and glory of Jesus Christ, the balm for every ill. And when I kneel on the old chair cushions to snip deadheads, I’m transported to heaven where I long to worship at His feet. 

Do certain plants remind you of Jesus? Betsy (Ella’s mother) in The Calling of Ella McFarland learned her homespun healing methods in the Ozark Mountains. Have you or someone you know used herbs and plants for balms? 

Be thy glory seen on earth from shore to shore, O Lord.
~ For Jesus’ sake~