Bible League: Living His Word As one piece of iron sharpens another, so friends keep each other sharp.The analogy here is that just as iron tools can be made sharp and fit for use by honing them against another iron tool, so likewise friends can keep one another sharp and fit for life in general by critically interacting with one another. The idea is that people are better off with friends that point out their faults and foibles than with friends who do not point out such things or with no friends at all. The proverb should not be seen as a contradiction of Jesus' admonition "Don't judge others, and God will not judge you. If you judge others, you will be judged the same way you judge them. God will treat you the same way you treat others" (Matthew 7:1-2). This is because the sharpening that occurs between friends is understood here as a positive interaction that improves each one for life, but judgement is condemnatory and negative in nature and does not lead to that kind of improvement. Sharpening builds people up; judgment tears them down. Since sharpening is to be understood in a positive sense, then we should expect such interaction with our friends and we should be willing to accept it. The person who is constantly on the defensive and unwilling to receive any sharpening from friends will not receive the benefit of the interaction and is unlikely to keep many friends. Such a person will be, from the point of view of the proverb, dull and unfit for use. At the same time, since the sharpening is positive in nature, we should not be afraid to give positive critical feed-back to our friends. The person who is unwilling to sharpen friends will not be much of a friend in the long run and is also unlikely to keep many friends. Who wants friends that never challenge us or question us? The similarity between sharpening and condemnation, however, means that one must be careful not to allow their critical interactions with friends to degenerate into condemnation. If a friend is unwilling to receive critical feed-back then it might be wise to back-off in order to preserve the friendship. Pressing the issue might lead to condemnation. When it comes to critical interactions with friends, prudence is called for, as it is everywhere else in a Christian's life. Today, ask the LORD for the prudence necessary to be a good friend. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingDeuteronomy 1, 2 Deuteronomy 1 -- Summary of Israel's History: from Horeb to Spies in Canaan NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Deuteronomy 2 -- Summary of Wanderings in the Desert NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Mark 11:1-19 Mark 11 -- The Triumphal Entry; the Money Changers; the Withered Fig Tree; Jesus' Authority NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion For the LORD God is our sun and our shield.He gives us grace and glory. The LORD will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right. Insight God does not promise to give us everything we think is good, but he will not withhold what is permanently good. He will give us the means to walk along his paths, but we must do the walking. Challenge When we obey him, he will not hold anything back that will help us serve him. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon John 3:7 Ye must be born again.Regeneration is a subject which lies at the very basis of salvation, and we should be very diligent to take heed that we really are "born again," for there are many who fancy they are, who are not. Be assured that the name of a Christian is not the nature of a Christian; and that being born in a Christian land, and being recognized as professing the Christian religion is of no avail whatever, unless there be something more added to it--the being "born again," is a matter so mysterious, that human words cannot describe it. "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." Nevertheless, it is a change which is known and felt: known by works of holiness, and felt by a gracious experience. This great work is supernatural. It is not an operation which a man performs for himself: a new principle is infused, which works in the heart, renews the soul, and affects the entire man. It is not a change of my name, but a renewal of my nature, so that I am not the man I used to be, but a new man in Christ Jesus. To wash and dress a corpse is a far different thing from making it alive: man can do the one, God alone can do the other. If you have then, been "born again," your acknowledgment will be, "O Lord Jesus, the everlasting Father, thou art my spiritual Parent; unless thy Spirit had breathed into me the breath of a new, holy, and spiritual life, I had been to this day dead in trespasses and sins.' My heavenly life is wholly derived from thee, to thee I ascribe it. My life is hid with Christ in God.' It is no longer I who live, but Christ who liveth in me." May the Lord enable us to be well assured on this vital point, for to be unregenerate is to be unsaved, unpardoned, without God, and without hope. Daily Light on the Daily Path Proverbs 2:8 Guarding the paths of justice, And He preserves the way of His godly ones.Deuteronomy 1:32,33 "But for all this, you did not trust the LORD your God, • who goes before you on your way, to seek out a place for you to encamp, in fire by night and cloud by day, to show you the way in which you should go. Deuteronomy 32:11,12 "Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, That hovers over its young, He spread His wings and caught them, He carried them on His pinions. • "The LORD alone guided him, And there was no foreign god with him. Psalm 37:23,24 The steps of a man are established by the LORD, And He delights in his way. • When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, Because the LORD is the One who holds his hand. Psalm 34:19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all. Psalm 1:6 For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish. Romans 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 2 Chronicles 32:8 "With him is only an arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles." And the people relied on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah. Zephaniah 3:17 "The LORD your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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