As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend. [27:17 (NLT)]
This proverb about iron sharpening iron reminds me of Sunday dinners when I was a girl. After the roast beef was placed in front of my father, he picked up the carving knife and a steel rod. With dramatic flair, he would run the knife back and forth against the steel before carving the meat. For the perfect slice of beef, he used iron to “sharpen” iron.
At the time, I thought he was sharpening the blade; instead, he was honing it. Whenever a knife is used, its sharp edge begins to bend and catch on whatever is being cut. Pulling a knife’s blade along a honing steel brings its rough edges back into an upright position so the knife can perform at its best. A whetstone is necessary to sharpen a dull or damaged knife. But, because it rubs away some of the blade to create a brand-new edge, the more a knife is sharpened, the thinner the blade gets and the shorter its lifespan.
Just as there is a difference between a steel honing rod and a whetstone, constructive comments and words of correction differ from harsh criticism and disparagement—one enriches and improves while the other gradually diminishes. When called to do a little sharpening, we should proceed prayerfully and gently, always remembering that we should be more like honing steels than whetstones. Rather than grinding off any mettle, our purpose is to enhance by smoothing out the rough edges. Moses’ father-in-law Jethro did some honing when he pointed out Moses’ mistake in thinking he could manage two million people by himself. Jethro offered excellent advice on how to delegate responsibility and Moses became a better leader because he listened.
While a carving knife has no choice about accepting that steel rod, we do. Nevertheless, if we want to maintain our sharpness, be properly aligned, and work at our best, a little honing might be necessary. Solomon’s son Rehoboam certainly didn’t take his father’s warning that, “Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to others.” [Pro 12:15] Rather than accepting sage counsel from his father’s trusted advisors, he turned to his sycophantic friends because they would tell him what he wanted to hear! His foolishness and their poor advice resulted in a divided kingdom of Israel.
God puts wise people in our lives for a reason and it’s for more than encouragement. Matthew Henry said their purpose is to “improve both others and ourselves…to provoke one another to love and to good works and so to make one another wiser and better.” Like Moses, we can accept the correction that comes from those who love us or, like Rehoboam, we can resist the honing and insist on doing it our way. Just as we are tested by the way we respond to praise, we are tested by the way we respond to correction and constructive criticism. In both cases, we must remain humble and thankful.
The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism. [Norman Vincent Peale]
We were discussing when and how we came to believe in the existence of God. Those who’d been brought up in families of faith said there never was a time they weren’t aware of God’s presence. Others spoke of believing in God because He is visible in His creation—in flowers, majestic mountains, birds, sunrises and sunsets, the vastness of space, or the miracle of birth. One came to believe in God while attending Vacation Bible School with a neighbor and another met God through a campus ministry. After apologizing in advance for “grossing” us out, one woman shared her experience while in medical school.
Tithe means ten percent and the concept of the making a tithe is first found in Genesis. After being blessed by Melchizedek, the king of Salem and a “priest of God Most High,” Abram/Abraham gave him a tenth of all the goods he recovered from Kedorlaomer’s army after rescuing Lot. [14:20] After Jacob asked for God’s protection and provision, he pledged a tenth of his future blessings to Him. [28:22]
With few exceptions, when we find mention of pride in Scripture, it has a negative connotation. It refers to arrogance, conceit, disrespect, haughtiness, and effrontery. Often called stubborn, insolent, willful, and selfish, prideful people don’t fare well in Scripture. Consider Pharaoh whose pride made him stubbornly defy the power of God; as a result, his entire nation suffered plague after plague, he lost his eldest son, and his entire army was decimated. Lucifer’s insolence and pride got him evicted from heaven. Nebuchadnezzar’s conceitful boasting resulted in the king living as a field animal and eating grass for seven years! When arrogant King Uzziah overstepped boundaries and burned incense in Temple (something only priests could do), the proud king became an outcast leper. Indeed, “pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.” [Proverbs 16:18]
We once had neighbors who left our church for what I’ll call the “church of what’s happening now.” Its members have a variety of beliefs about God and, while they acknowledge a “higher power,” they do not share a concept of it. It could be God, a sacred force, or the spirit of life and there is no right or wrong way to understand Him, Her, or It. While some may regard Jesus as a great moral and spiritual leader or prophet (and possibly even supernatural), they don’t believe He was God and reject the Trinity. Theirs is an eclectic mix of beliefs with each person having his or her own personal truth. Embracing uncertainty, some believe there may be an afterlife and/or reincarnation but, for others, this life is all there is. Although they look to the Bible for wisdom, they also find spiritual inspiration in texts like the Bhagavad Gita, Dhammapada, and Tao Te-Ching. Our neighbors were loving caring people who believed in good things like justice, compassion, peace, protecting the environment, and the dignity of the individual. Nevertheless, while some of their thinking was correct, their conclusion was very wrong.
Earlier this week, I compared a fictional 21st century Noah with the original ark builder. Although I was told there had been no rain on earth before the Flood, since I hadn’t read it myself, I wanted to make sure before writing it. As it turns out, there is no clear decisive answer to whether or not there was rain before Noah’s day so I didn’t mention it at all.
