a couple months ago i got stitches in my chin. people gave me all these home remedies to help with healing the scar- making sure it wasn't larger than needed. because no one wants an unsightly scar on their chin. [confession: i kind of like scars, because to me, they tell a story.] i finally decided to use frankincense oil. i put a tiny bit of the oil on my scar at night before bed. mom told me to be sparing, because the oil is expensive.
one night, i was lying in bed thinking about how much my scar has decreased in just the weeks i'd been using it. and then, because it's night and my mind was going which ever way i wanted it, i thought about the scars that Christ has.
"Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust
your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel
the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet,
that ye may know that I am the God of Israel,
and the God of the whole earth,
and have been slain for the sins of the whole world." [3 Nephi 11:14]
for most of my life i've kind of wondered why the three wise men brought the gifts they brought to baby Jesus. gold- i get that. and i've heard that myrrh is used for embalming bodies- as a kind of perfume. but that night, lying in my bed, i understood the significance of frankincense.
Christ, who carries the scars of the sins, sorrows, mistakes and heart aches of all of us, was appropriately given frankincense, with its healing properties, as a baby. and although his scars remain, for us to recognize him by, his sacrifice becomes like frankincense to us. because no matter what scars we carry throughout life- physical, emotional, spiritual- because of Him, they can be healed.
"But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." [Mosiah 14:5]
