The Mystery of Myrrh

Somethings intrigue me by the way they work. I looked up Myrrh and found that it's aroma is considered purifying, restorative, and uplifting. It's considered a helpful aid to meditation because it has one of the highest levels of sesquiterpenes. I learned from my research that sesquiterpenes are a class of compounds that have a direct effect on the hypothalamus, pituitary, and amygdala, the seat of our emotions. What intrigues me is how is harvested.

Myrrh is a small thorny tree. The myrrh only releases its perfume when it's hurt. When the tree is gashed it produces walnut-sized "tears" that harden and are harvested for the musky oil they contain. Myrrh was one of the gifts that the Magi brought at Jesus' birth. Myrrh was offered to Jesus when He was on the cross. Myrrh was also part of the Jesus' burial.

Thinking about myrrh I am reminded of Isaiah 53. "For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him no beauty that we should desire him...But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed." I see in Jesus the mystery of myrrh, something precious from something that was despised and rejected.

I see this same mystery repeated in lives of those who have experienced the redeeming love of Jesus. This past weekend I talked to several friends who have been wounded in life. The grief they shared with me could have easily produced a sicking stench but instead what I experienced was the fragrance of the knowledge of God. My friends had chosen to offer their suffering to God as a sacrifice and the result was that something painful had produced something precious.

Lord Jesus, I want my life to be fragrant with the mystery of myrrh. Please let me follow you and spread through my life the fragrance of the knowledge of God.