14 All in Verses for MenSample

Do you want to get sharper as a man of God?

This is Vince Miller.

Our text today is from Proverbs 27:17. It reads:

Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. — Proverbs 27:17

The imagery here is epic.

It’s the workshop of a master-level ironsmith. You see him walk over to a large wooden barrel from which he selects a raw piece of iron. He surveys it in his hands, envisioning what it might become. Next, he gives it shape by heating and striking it. One hard swing after another, his hammer draws the iron out. And here, for the first time, we notice a shape. We see what the iron might become. But he’s not finished. He sits down the hammer and exchanges it for a more aggressive tool — the grinder. He applies the iron to the spinning wheel and sparks fly. With every turn, small pieces of iron are removed. As he continues, the dullness is stripped away in his hands. The iron shines brighter and gets sharper.

And this is the image the writer uses to describe the value that one God-fearing man brings to another. With the help of another, more experienced man, a raw man is made better. It takes another more experienced man to envision, shape, and sharpen other men. Therefore we can conclude that a God-fearing man without experienced men in his life is dull, unrefined, and useless. As useless as a piece of raw iron sitting in a wooden barrel. And fellas, unused iron sitting in a barrel only does one thing — it rusts. But a man in the hands of another more experienced man takes shape, is sharpened, and becomes useful.

So stop waiting. It's time to get sharper. Build a relationship with another man who has some real-life experience. And don't overcomplicate it. Just find someone who is great at something you're not. And ask him just one question — "How do you do that?" And then heed any good and godly advice and let it grind on you.