Sharpening Your Iron

When my father in law cools, he will often take his knife and strike it several times against a sharpening rod. I asked a friend who forges knives about it. He told me that when you strike iron against iron like that, you are aligning the metals in the knife that have become dull through use, making it sharp again. It got my curiosity up, so I researched iron sharpening iron in a metallurgical sense. When humans realized they could sharpen metal that way, it changed human history. They created sharper weapons, but they also were able to make more efficient tools for agriculture. Nations that learned this skill had a serious advantage over those who didn’t know it. They were stronger and had more resources.

In 2 Samuel 12, David had sinned with Bathsheba and hidden it. God spoke to the prophet Nathan to confront David. He told David the story of a lamb that had been stolen. David rose up in anger over it and pronounced judgement. Nathan looked at David and said, “You are that man!” I’m sure sparks were flying in that conversation as iron hit against iron. David respected Nathan the prophet and aligned himself with Gods Word. He made the correction in his life and repented. I’m sure it wasn’t an easy conversation to be had, but they both cared about each other and God used Nathan to be the sharpening rod for David. Nathan had enough relational equity with David and he also respected Nathan as a man of God to accept correction from him.

Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens [and influences] another [through discussion]” (AMP). When iron strikes iron, there is friction, but it brings improvement. Who has permission in your life to strike against you through conversation to sharpen you? We all have rough edges and the sharpening process is done through that friction. It’s important that we don’t allow just anyone to have that authority in our lives to influence us. It needs to be a person who knows God’s Word and can use it to grow us, correct us and advance us. Just like when metallurgists learned the skill of striking iron against iron, having someone you trust who can strike against you will change your future. There’s growth in discussion that challenges us and shapes us in a godly way.

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