March 6 - A Threefold Cord.

Ecclesiastes 4:12
“…and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
 
Threads are easily broken. When a thread stands alone, it is not nearly as strong as it can be when it is banded together with other threads to form a rope or cord.
 
The illustration that Solomon gives us in the fourth chapter of Ecclesiastes shows us what type of relationships the Lord wants us to have. We find in verses 9 & 10, “Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.” The Lord wants us to have friendship and communion with different people along our journey. He wants us to choose fellowship over isolation. “Two are better than one…”
 
The Lord puts people in our life for a reason. It might be for a short season, or a lifetime, but He brings us to certain people right when we need it the most…to fulfill His purpose. A family member, a friend, a coworker, a significant other, a spouse… with the mention of these, faces fill our minds of those that the Lord has brought across our path in one way or another.
 
In verse 12, we see the illustration for the foundation of any successful relationship: “…a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
 
Picture an unbraided rope with three strands… one of the strands represents you; another represents someone that God has placed in your life… that family member, that friend, that significant other. The third Strand stays in the middle while the other two strands are braided around It. When completed, you would have a much stronger rope than you would if each of the three strands were on their own.
 
When we wrap our relationships with people around the Lord, we have a threefold cord that is not quickly broken.
 
Think of a past relationship that did not have Christ at the center of it.
Was it successful? Most likely it was easily broken.
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We need partners in the ministry.
“After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two by two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come.” Luke 10:1
 
We need someone to encourage us to keep going.
“Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.” Proverbs 27:17
 
We need someone to rebuke us when we are wrong.
“Faithful are the wounds of a friend…” Proverbs 27:6
 
We need someone to always point us to Him.
“Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another…” I Thessalonians 5:11
 
If we put Jesus Christ at the center of every relationship, we will find that our threefold cord is not quickly broken, and that it gives God the glory He deserves.
 
 
Bible Reading:
Numbers 11-12  |  Luke 17  |  Psalm 35