Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. Furthermore, if two lie down together, they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart. (Ecclesiastes 4: 9-12, NASB)
When you think of famous names in a golf threesome, who comes to mind? How about Jack, Arnie, and Gary? Or, more recently a group that played on the Korn Ferry Tour – Yip, Schenk, and Hack? Imagine the harassment those players took as they worked their way up the golfing ladder of success!
The opening verses implore us to look for partners in life that can provide support, warmth, protection, and strength. LINKS is a place where we can find partners who will be there during the challenges as well as the celebrations as we walk with Jesus in this life.
Tim Philpot held a men’s retreat this month and used a golf scorecard to grade areas of life. You got to score your friend, and he got to score you. He made it clear that “a good friend will call out your ‘bogies’ as you play the game of life and continue to grow in Jesus.’ ‘And, if you think you are even par, you probably aren’t.”
The reference to a cord of three strands is the perfect metaphor to describe how we can be stronger together and reminds me of another threesome, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They would not bow down to King Nebuchadnezzar’s false gods and the golden image that he created and were told this:
Daniel 3:6 “But whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire.”
The threesome was confident and convicted that they could be saved by God and that the King was wrong and they were thrown into the furnace that the King ordered to be turned up seven times higher than normal. As the King looked into the furnace, he saw the three bundled up the way they had been thrown in and a fourth person “like a son of the gods” in the fire. He called them out of the furnace and saw that the fire did not affect their bodies.
Nebuchadnezzar became a believer because of the radical actions of Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego and declared that God sent an angel to save them from the fire and bless them.
Daniel 3:30 “ Then the king caused Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego to prosper in the province of Babylon.”
The most significant threesome we know as Christians is the Triune God of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Our creator in heaven, the person of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit (helper) he left with those who accept him as Lord.
We may be the only way our friends will know Jesus and are called to follow his instructions to the disciples before he sent them out.
Mathew 28: 18-20
“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “ All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Let’s jump into the fire!
Prayer: Help us to be strong together to share your good news and the conviction to know that you love us and want to have a relationship with us.