BE SHARP AND A SHARPENER
BE SHARP AND A SHARPENER
Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. —27:17
A knife or any sharp implement by itself will lose it sharpness. It cannot regain its sharpness by itself. It needs a sharpener. Dull is the man who only depends on himself and does not rub shoulders with those who can sharpen him. The one who thinks he does not need others may think he is sharp, but he is not. So, who is helping you become spiritually “sharp” or remain spiritually “sharp?”
From time to time I run into someone who claims to be a follower of Jesus but they say they don’t need to attend a local church. I can tell you right off that this is a person who spiritually dull. Oh, they may have all kinds of knowledge about God’s Word, but they don’t know God’s Word experientially. They are not applying His Word. They do not understand what the “body of Christ” is. How is it possible for a person to be spiritually “sharp” when they do not even apply the basics of God’s Word—- “Let us hold resolutely to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds. Let us not neglect meeting together, as some have made a habit, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:23-25). This cannot be done alone. If you think it is possible then— “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves. For anyone who hears the word but does not carry it out is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror, and after observing himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so—not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer—he will be blessed in what he does” (James 1:22-25).
So who are you meeting with this week that can help “sharpen” you up and you can help sharpen them? We are to “consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds.” We are to “not neglect meeting together, as some have made a habit.” No, instead “let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” This cannot be done by oneself. So I ask again, who are you meeting with this week in the process of “sharpening” of you and you them? May we be doing so! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxI0Yyy57Wo
Dear Father may I meet with those who help sharpen me. I thank You for our pastor’s group where this can happen. I thank You for our men’s and women’s groups where this can happen. I thank You for serving together where this can happen. I thank You for meeting with individuals where this can happen. I am so grateful that You are always there to sharpen me. Help me to be sharp and a sharpener. May this be so in the power of Your Holy Spirit and in the authority of Jesus.