Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 has been a favorite passage of mine for many years. It addresses the importance of relationships, both personal and with God. For those of us who are median and older adults, many, if not most, of the virtues and securities that were the norm in our childhoods have become extinct. Integrity, loyalty, and personal responsibility are among those virtues that have become so rare. Job security, financial security, domestic security, and even social security are all at a much higher risk today. Our culture is becoming a culture of chaos, brokenness, suspicion, and violence.
Yet, the truth is that we really need each other. People need people. It is the way God created us. “Two are better than one…” said the author of Ecclesiastes. A more important truth to grasp is that “a cord of three strands is not easily broken.” Now I understand the shocking statement made by an Arizona pastor who said, “A person who has God alone does not have enough.” Indeed, though Adam walked with God face to face in the Garden of Eden, God found that environment and the relationship incomplete. God Himself said in Genesis 2:28, “It is not good for man to be alone.”
God created two great institutions for meeting that need. Those institutions are the family and the Church, in that order. These are the safety nets that He has woven for times of uncertainty and security. They are to be the places where virtues and values can be taught and modeled. They are the places where hope, health, and acceptance are always readily available. They are the places where love should be unconditional, loyalty unwavering, and personal worth consistently affirmed. These are the safe places for us, our children, and our grandchildren amidst the cultural storms assailing us.
Men! Fight valiantly against the torrent of enemies that will assault your marriage and family. Be a godly husband and father! Women! Nurture your family and model the grace and love of the Lord Jesus for them. Children! Honor your parents because God commands it. Mom and dad! Let the Lord Jesus be that third cord in those relationships because He is the One who will hold things together. Worship and serve as a family because the old cliché still holds true. “The family that prays together stays together.”
