Threes

My mum used to say that everything comes in threes. She wasn’t superstitious. She was a Godly lady who took her faith seriously, but she noticed life. One of her observations was that things sometimes come in groups of three.

From the arrival of the local service bus, to the notice of announcements of death, and everything inbetween, she saw that things happen in threes. Even the pastor’s sermons invariably have three points. The Trinity is a three part image of God. Our lives are separated into time spans of past, present, and future. There are three physical dimensions, length, breadth, and height.

In the spiritual realm, we have three elements of salvation. Upward in repentance and thanks to God, inward as we start to change from the inside out as we become more like Jesus, and outward as we reach out in love to those around us. We don’t love others to drag them to church because that may never happen. A wise old pastor asked his younger congregation why nightingales sing? As an adult, I was stumped until he explained that nightingales sing because they are nightingales! He went on to say that we should love others, and pass on the comfort God has given us in our troubles, only because we are His children and we love Him. No other reason is needed. It becomes our nature, just like the singing nightingale.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 2 Corinthians 1:3,4