15th February 2024

15th February 2024


Pray (ACts)


Read (Ecclesiastes 4v9-12)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


Many years ago I was sitting in a committee meeting when the church secretary announced that he had received a letter. It had come from a Solicitor’s office in the United States and it told the story of a woman who had left these shores in the 1920s after getting married to an American. The relationship was blessed with one son but sadly the marriage ended in divorce. I’m not sure how or why but the husband received full custody of the son and tragically the wife never saw her baby boy ever again.


She lived the rest of her life in the United States and when she died, her will decreed that a small financial amount should be set aside for her son. This lady wanted to let her son know that she had never forgotten him. The son never claimed the money and after thirty years, the gift was sent to Ulster and to the church that the woman had been born into. The church in question received just under one hundred pounds and all agreed that the woman’s story was a sad one.


As Solomon considered the workaholic who pushed everyone away, he rightly concluded that two are better than one (v9). This isn’t to say that the solitary life is somehow less than the life spent in company but I think Solomon highlights that humans were never supposed to be hermits. Simon the Stylite was a famous Christian in the ancient world and he spent much of his life at the top of a column to try and keep himself from the world’s distractions. Even so, Simon needed friends to bring him food and to help him meet his everyday needs.


Everybody needs somebody. If one falls the other can help lift him up (v10). If one lies down in the cold the other can help keep him warm (v11). If one is attacked the other can help defend him (v12). Just as a rope is made strong by its intertwined cords, so too we are strengthened and blessed by human relationships. A threefold cord is not quickly broken (v12).


This devotion isn’t a call for you to run out and get married or for you to fill your diary with nights out and endless activity. Instead I simply remind you that the Christian is expected to live in community. The Lord died for His people, His bride is the church and the church is never to give up meeting together as is the habit of some (Hebrews 10v25). In a world where a recent survey suggested that nearly one in four adults feel very or fairly lonely, we need to remember that the Lord calls us from solitude to take our place among His people each Lord’s Day.


My simple suggestion to all who know the Lord is to make your Church a non-negotiable part of your week. Prepare for church the night before, go early to church, do your best to speak to fellow Christians at church and don’t rush away as soon as the Benediction is pronounced. Why bother? Because we can’t grasp the love that Jesus has for His bride. We should love her too and see her as an extraordinary blessing in this lonely world.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC


Q69 What is forbidden in the sixth commandment? The sixth commandment forbiddeth the taking away of our own life, or the life of our neighbor unjustly, or whatsoever tendeth thereunto.
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