As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. – Proverbs 27:17 (NIV)
Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. – Proverbs 27:17 (KJV)
52 Proverbs in 52 Weeks – Week 9
This week’s theme: Choosing Your Friends
It’s good for us to spend time with each other. It’s also important that we choose the right people to spend time with (see last week’s post about Choosing Our Friends), but it’s clear that God didn’t intend for us to go through life alone. If you’d like to see evidence that this is true, look no further than Genesis 2:18. After He created Adam, God Himself said that it wasn’t good for Adam to be alone.
In our verse for this week, Proverbs 27:17, King Solomon provides a fantastic illustration of how we shape one another when we spend time together. In Solomon’s day, the strongest and sharpest weapons were made by blacksmiths using iron hammers and iron anvils to shape iron swords. Solomon tells us that, just as an iron hammer shapes the iron it comes in contact with, we also shape, and are shaped by, the people we come in contact with. That’s why it’s so critical that we surround ourselves with those who are Godly influences…and that we serve as a Godly influence on those around us.
As a closing thought, note that if the iron hammer and anvil don’t come in contact with the iron sword then the blade remains dull. In other words, it takes contact for these items to shape each other. Similarly, if we want to be sharpened into the people that God desires for us to be, we absolutely must have consistent contact with God’s people. Again, it’s good for us to spend time with each other.
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