Friendship - Iron Sharpener

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God 

There are friends, and there are friends. That isn’t double talk. We have friends that never offer a critical word about anything we are doing or thinking. Then there are friends who will be honest enough to offer needed criticism to improve our walk with Christ. And we need them. 

The wise Solomon likened the interaction between friends to the sharpening of a tool — iron sharpening iron = friend sharpening friend [Proverbs 27:17]. In Hebrew, the idea is even more expressive: one man sharpens the face of another.  

With today’s gadgetry, sharpening an object is easy-peasy. But in Bible days it was a long process. It took persistent, careful striking of a tool against the sharpener; a process that could take hours. And just as tools in those days were not sharpened by a stroke or two, a friend doesn’t sharpen a friend by a word or two. Instead, we sharpen one another over time with years of friendship and all the ups and downs that come in long-lasting relationships. We need those kind of friends to sharpen our face and encourage us in the work of ministry. 

Do you have a sharpener? Are you sharpening someone? If so, you are truly blessed! If not, be on the lookout. Ask the Lord to bring someone into your life. A “sharp” friend will help you to persist in love toward one another.

As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend. Proverbs 27:17