Three threesomes

I think that it is a debating technique to repeat things three times for emphasis. I can remember Tony Blair in one of his speeches talking about their manifesto – the policies they hoped to implement once they were in power – “Education, Education, Education”. I am not sure that he has done anything other than just repeat the word!

Just lately I have been finding these threesomes as I read the Bible and other books. I was reading an interview with Os Guinness. I am currently reading one of his books and thought I would find out a little bit more about the man. He doesn’t have a holy huddle mentality and is not afraid to explore not just why he is a Christian, but also why he is not a Muslim or a Hindu. In the interview, he mentioned that he had spent a lot of time with another theologian and was asked what he had learned from the man. He said that he admired the man for his passion for God, his passion for people and his passion for truth. I like that threesome. I like the word passion. I like the way that it is balanced – God, people and truth.

Another threesome I read was in the end chapters of Jeremiah. A remnant of Israelites who had not been taken off to Babylon with the rest of the nation had ran to Egypt thinking they would get away from the war and the poverty, rather than trusting in God. Jeremiah told them clearly that their actions meant that God no longer considered them His people. They hadn’t shown humility, they had failed to give God reverence and they had not obeyed His word. If failing to do these things takes us away from God, the opposite must also be true – God will draw us near to Himself if we are humble, if we revere Him and if we seek to obey His commands. Working out the practicalities of that threesome has got to be very challenging.

The threesome I read this morning was in the opening verses of the book of Revelation. Things are written there which Jesus wants us to know that we might be more effective witnesses. The more we know about Jesus and his intentions, the more we can work with Him. The instruction here was to read the words, to hear it and to take to heart what is written. Sometimes we stop at the reading bit of it, and do not give our hearts a chance to hear the words in our hearts as the Holy Spirit ignites it. Until the Spirit ignites the words, they seldom get taken to heart in a life changing way.

Three threesomes:-

Passion for God
Passion for people
Passion for the truth

Being humble
Being reverent
Being obedient

The word read
The word heard
The word taken to heart