Being Sharp

Being Sharp
“Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17).

We would be in trouble if God’s mind was limited by the boundaries of flesh like ours. But we can be grateful that He is different. He is omniscient which means He knows everything and all things before they happen. In His ultimate knowledge and wisdom, He established His church on this Earth to sharpen the minds of the world(Ephesians 3:10-12). For us to fulfill the purpose of building knowledge and saving souls, we must be willing to open our minds to the iron to be sharpened.

As Jesus taught the world about God and His love for them, they were amazed at His sharpness. They were fascinated at His understanding of the prophets and sacred writings of what we know today as the Old Testament (Luke 4:32). They were amazed at His willingness to teach truth even when so called religious leaders taught differently. It was obvious that those religious leaders were not as confident in what they thought they knew as Jesus was in what was known by Him. His love for God’s cause caught the ears and hearts of those who were seeking truth. The ones that wanted to be sharpened by truth became His disciples.

There are people in the church that have a desire to be sharpened. They have faith in what Paul told Timothy:

“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

We have an opportunity to sharpen our knowledge of God to be approved by the One who sharpened Jesus. God’s word is the tool that He has authorized to sharpen the minds of the church.

The faithful people of the church want to be sharpened. They are not looking for fables, myths, or philosophies that fill their time, but are longing for truth that will fill their hearts with pure love for God and His cause. They desire Bible teachers who study diligently to bless the class with an opportunity to be sharpened:

“But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith” (1 Timothy 1:5).

There are enough false teachers in the world to confuse the minds of men with stories. In the church we need faithful teachers to keep our minds sharp and our hearts filled with sincere love.

The church’s struggle with ignorance is not something new: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…” (Hosea 4:6). God spoke to the prophets to keep ignorance from causing problems for His chosen vessel, Israel. But, as the Scriptures reveal, they didn’t desire God’s knowledge as much as they desired to be known. God has snatched us from the world of ignorance because we show Him a desire to be sharpened. Let us hold our Bible teachers to the standard of truth that God has assured will sharpen our minds in the ways of faithfulness. If we want to avoid being destroyed, we must make sure that Bible truth is being taught in our classes. Man’s philosophy and stories cause more problems than good:

“[N]or to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith” (1 Timothy 1:4).

Satan is out to destroy the church and ignorance is one of his most effective weapons. Stay sharp in your knowledge of God’s truth and defeat Satan’s plan to destroy. Allow your mind and heart to be sharpened by the iron of God's truth.