Hi, all. Just a thought to help start your weekend. 

This pink rose and a red one on another bush are the first two blooms of the year in our yard. I was thrilled to see them and even posted pictures of each on social media. Our roses are usually some of the first flowers around us to spring to life each year. Red ones and two or three shades of pink adorn my scraggly looking bushes.

Shakespeare is the one who reminded us that “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” My “Nanny” loved her rose bushes, and I remember being fascinated by how many and how pretty they were. My late father-in-law’s favorite flower was the red rose, which we make a point to share on his grave from time to time.

The Bible book of Song of Solomon is a conversation between Solomon and his love, a woman simply known as a Shulamite. The beauty of the flowers in the wild fertile plain of Sharon was apparently something to behold, and Solomon’s lover describes herself as the “rose of Sharon.” Many folks have come to recognize Jesus as the “rose of Sharon” because of the beauty of His love for us, although He is never actually called by that name in the Scriptures. It is a description of the loving relationship God desires for us to have with His Son.

Roses. They are lovely. They smell heavenly. They come in all colors of the rainbow. We use them to denote love and friendship and to show we care.

While I won’t have enough roses on my bushes to share with everyone I care about, I can certainly share with them about the love of One whose love grows sweeter and sweeter as the days go by. I look forward to seeing my rose bushes in full bloom. And I look forward to the day when I shall see Him in His full glory.

Take time to stop and smell the roses this week. Breathe Him in. Share the love.

Just a thought. ’Til later.

 

Rev. Brad Campbell can be reached at mastah.pastah@yahoo.com.