10 Mar THE ROSE OF SHARON – LOVE YOUR CHURCH

Roses and lilies are often placed together in vessels and ornaments. They are so beautiful. The poets also often do the same, as did William Blake, “The modest Rose puts forth a thorn, The humble sheep a threatening horn: While the Lily white shall in love delight, Nor a thorn nor a threat stain her beauty bright.”

The Lord Jesus is the most loving of all the poets in this world, and He also used the lilies and a rose to describe His beautiful bride, the Church. And the bride herself sings these verses, “I am the Rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.”

As a matter of fact, not only the Groom’s answer, “Behold, you are beautiful, my love; behold, you are beautiful…”, but the Bible as a whole exalts the beauty and the glory of the Church, as the psalmist would say in Psalm 87, “Glorious things of you are spoken, O city of God.”

It is with such love that we are treated by our Lord and Master, our Husband and Friend; and understanding His love for His church, we also should have her in the highest regard in our lives. When Paul applies the way that husbands and wives should treat one another, he actually says this, “This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.”