Wednesday, September 3, 2008

A Second Look. Part 1

"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
--Proverbs 27:17

This verse, while simple and common is one of my favorite verses, I wouldn't be surprised if you were to agree. However, since most all of us have heard it we tend to take it at face value and miss the deeper truth.

This post won't be too long because most of the verse can be taken at face value, but I believe that there is a little deeper point that is commonly overlooked.

First let's look at this first part, "As iron sharpens iron,"

"Iron was an innovation that had a powerful effect on every area of the ancient world. It’s strength and sharpness set it apart from all the metals at that time. With iron, a culture could make both effective daily tools to sustain their lives and superior war instruments to expand their influence" (http://newironmedia.com/tools-that-shape-culture-a-biblical-perspective)

According to this source, in the times that this passage was being written, iron was one of the STRONGEST and most EFFICIENT minerals at its job. I believe that the use of iron in the passage was not a coincidence. If you are going to sharpen another person to make their faith stronger then you yourself must be strong in your faith. If you are going to try and help a brother or sister grow in faith and you aren't strong then you may end up dulling or weakening them. So as iron must be strong you must also be STRONG and EFFICIENT.

then "one man sharpens another."

I was talking about it earlier, the main point of this verse is that we must help each other grow stronger and more confident in our faith. While the Word of God will indeed make us stronger we need the help of our peers...and who is your peers peers? You! We must help each other grow in our faith but we must also be strong to help others, it is a chain. Strong friend "A" will help you grow stronger so that you may help Friend "1" grow stronger that Friend "A" can't reach.

So that is week 1, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns don't be afraid to spill your thoughts =)


God Bless, Jared

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Jarod,

Thank you for the link. Great entry. Stay strong, continue to grow, and be productive & profitable!

Blessings,
Bret

Anonymous said...

An interesting angle on a wonderful verse of scripture. Thank you Jared.