Bible Ballistics: BBs #582     Iron Or Putty???

 

“Iron sharpeneth iron;

so a man sharpeneth

the countenance

of his friend.”   Proverbs 27:17

“A friend loveth

at all times,

and a brother

is born for adversity.”  Proverbs 17:7

I want to take just a few moments today to celebrate ‘friends’!  I have been abundantly blessed through the years with amazing friends.  Scripture tells us the key to having real friends is relatively simple—not easy but simple!

“A man that hath friends

must shew himself friendly:

and there is a friend

that sticketh closer

than a brother.”  Proverbs 18:24

To have friends, we must ‘be’ a friend! We must be willing to risk heartache as we reach out to others.  Now, this isn’t a popular idea if you follow the ideology of social media; which says, “If you don’t meet my needs, or if you are inconvenient, or if you fail in some way—then I just need to avoid, dump or otherwise exclude you from my life.”  I’m not saying that we aren’t to have boundaries, but we are to exercise grace, love and endurance toward others, as Jesus has extended these qualities to us!

“Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking,

be put away from you,

with all malice:

32 And be ye kind

one to another,

tenderhearted,

forgiving one another,

even as God

for Christ’s sake

hath forgiven you.”    Ephesians 4:31-32

That must not be right!  Afterall, I am the center of the universe! Right?  Well, to be quite truthful, that may be a popular attitude, but it surely isn’t biblical!  We are called to be iron sharpening iron—not silly putty, that changes to match the shape of the moment.  So, my question for us today is simply this; “Are we being ‘iron’ support for our friends, or are we so demanding of perfection from others, that we have failed to realize that we have been saved by grace, to serve Jesus and others?”  Are we walking in His ways or the popular social trend of the day?  Scripture makes it quite clear that our goal is to do God’s good works- not the imitation ‘goodness’ of the world; which is basically ‘me and my four, and no more’!

“For by grace are ye saved

through faith;

and that not of yourselves:

it is the gift of God:

9 Not of works,

lest any man should boast.

10 For we are his workmanship,

created in Christ Jesus

unto good works,

which God hath before ordained

that we should walk in them.”   Ephesians 2:8-10

So, my friends let’s press on and be that ‘iron sharpening iron’ that someone may need today!  Blessings on your journey of faith and obedience-don’t ‘putty’ out!  Amen and Amen!!!