Three Braided Ropes

D L Henderson
5 min readSep 25, 2024

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September 24, 2024

This morning, I started out thinking I should write a piece on the Narrow Gate. However, when I looked for the verse in my online Search, it appeared sandwiched between two other verses for some reason I did not immediately grasp. Was it just a random coincidence?

Bible reading is like going to a Deli. To be sure, the Bible is food for the mind and soul — an entire smorgasbord. I suppose reading the Bible could be likened to buying one sandwich one day and trying another another day. Still and all, they’re delicious!

Anyways, while searching for one Bible verse which would talk about that narrow gate, I found it amidst two other important ones.

Consequently, I began to wonder about these three verses written down so close together. Maybe it’s akin to this verse: “And though one may be overpowered, two can resist. Moreover, a cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” — Ecclesiastes 4:12, Berean Standard Bible.

So, I thought besides being like a Deli sandwich, maybe they were similar to a braided rope. So, then, I began to wonder, “Are these three strands braided together for some additional purpose?”

As an aside, it is imperative for me to note that I am not hereby suggesting a strict methodology, a standard practice, or strict orthodoxy for reading and understanding the Bible. These are just my thoughts on these verses this morning.,, for what it’s worth.

From Matthew 7:12–15, ibid, here is what I read:

“In everything, then, do to others as you would have them do to you. For this is the essence of the Law and the Prophets. Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life, and only a few find it. Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.”

The first thought I had was when I remembered what our youth pastor, a Messianic Jew, taught our entire group, regarding Matthew 19:24, “Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” He said that there was an actual Gate into Jerusalem called “The Eye of the Needle.” It was very small in relation to the other city gates. Merchants bringing their products to Jerusalem through that gate had a hard time getting their pack animals through it. In fact, the merchants had to unpack the loads off the animals’ backs, taking the merchandise in manually. After, they would lead their animals in. Then, they had to reload the merchandise onto their animals to get it all to the markets.

Now, what I am offering isn’t necessarily some kind of mystical formula for getting into Heaven when we die. Still and all, it has essentials.

  • Treat your neighbor as you want to be treated.
  • The right way to live, the best choices to make are not always altogether obvious.
  • People exist who will lead you away from the narrow gate, by fraud, by deception, and all with evil intent, pretending to be on your side as well as God’s.

The advice as I see it, taking all three strands of truth, braiding those precepts together, is something like this:

  • Turn away from antisocial behaviors.
  • Make the effort to figure out the right way to turn when seeking. existential truths about God, Jesus, and the Bible.
  • Don’t be entrapped by a blind faith in the “goodness” of people, especially strangers.

Most of the thoughtful and kind people I grew up with unintentionally gave me a false impression that everybody was that way. Nice… Kind… Thoughtful… Yeah… No… Not always… Not so much.

When I turned to God and soon after found Jesus to be my Savior, I started to read the Bible, to sincerely pray in private, and run after similar Biblical pursuits in order to continue down the straight road… I began to realize even more intently that I still had issues that might be part of my continuing problems.

I had a lot of learning and adapting left to do.

It has been quite a journey. Turning and learning, getting off track, getting back on track. Rinse. Wash. Repeat.

Fifty years later, I have finally been setting out to try to be a part of the solution — which in my mind is to strive to correct other’s misconceptions and misunderstandings of God, Jesus, and the Bible.

There was a time in my life that I began to look up, struggling with questions that were begging for answers. There was a time when I had to unload all my “merchandise” to fit through the narrow gate. There is still a time that I am enthralled with the magnificence and the treasures I am finding in the mountains of what I guess is the outskirts of the City of God…

Jesus promises, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.” — Matthew 7:7, ibid.

Or, as the Amplified Bible properly stresses the proper verb tenses, the verse reads this way: “Ask and keep on asking and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking and you will find; knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you.”

It might not appear to you as easy as you think it should be, but Jesus also suggested we do this, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” — Matthew 11:29, BSB.

So, I ask you, how hard could it be when Jesus is pulling right alongside you?

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D L Henderson

Born 1950; HS 1968; Born again 1972; Cornell ILR; Steward, Local President/Business Agent; Husband, father, grandfather; winner/loser/everything in between