And then I used the new knife.
I was using it to chop carrots for tea tonight and I was amazed all over again by the difference the new knife makes. The old knives cut through carrots. They are still perfectly serviceable and I wont be throwing them out. But the new one is just easier because it is so much sharper. Its a really noticeable difference.
As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. Proverbs 27:17
I think sometimes life takes the edge off us and we don't realise it. We do the things we do in the way we always do them, but we aren't just quite as effective as we could be....... or as we used to be. We only notice we have lost a bit of sharpness when someone sharper comes along! When we watch someone else in action and think ' Ooooh I used to be like that' or ' how I wish I could be like them!' I've always read the proverb above thinking that it is talking about sparks flying and rough edges being smoothed off - ie a painful process of being ground down. But today I'm looking at it with new eyes and seeing the encouragement of being sharpened by others who are sharper than I am. Sharpened by example! Inspired to be more cutting edge.
This lent let us be thankful for the people who have come into our lives to make us sharper. By their teaching or their doing or their character. Those who have passed on through having inspired us, and those who are walking with us , picking us up when we fall, cheering us on and not being afraid to challenge us when they see us being less than the person they know we can be.
And let us also remember that we are that person in someone elses life. Because that is how the economy of God works. What goes around comes around. I am called to sharpen others. So that God can use us to cut through the darkness and blindness of this world and bring His truth, purpose and peace.
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