Drop the Hammer!
/By Warren Martin
“As iron sharpens iron,
So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.”
— Proverbs 27:17
In the early days of the oil industry, drilling was primarily accomplished by cable-drilling rigs. Drilling tools were huge steel beams in varying sizes and tips. Steam engines would power a walking beam to raise the drilling tool and drop it into the well to make more hole. Each time the tool would drop, the cable would release slightly allowing the tool to slowly turn in a circle hitting each stroke with a new angle.
The blunt force of each drop took a toll on the drilling tool. Over time, it would dull and begin to flatten out the tool. Ever so often the crew would have to remove the tool for sharpening.
On the drilling floor was a blacksmiths furnace. The tool would be placed in the furnace and heated until it glowed bright. Then, like working metal into a horseshoe, the tool would be hammered back into shape and sharpened. This kept the tool sharp. It also protected the integrity of the hole and kept it from widening as you went further down.
The reshaping tools were primarily a hammer and a size guide. The hammer to shape, and size guide to return the tool to the same caliber circumference.
Proverbs 27:17 is among the most quoted verses from the Bible, but many people do not understand what it means. Iron can’t sharpen iron unless there is a clash of the two metals. As in the hammer striking the drilling tool to reshape and sharpen it.
This is the picture being communicated by the proverb. It is not just about having good friends who will support you. It is about having authentic friends who will support and challenge you. Friends who desire to see you become sharper and better. And friends who use the Holy Bible as their sizing guide.
We all need friends like this. And we need to be friends of this nature to others. It is not easy, especially in today’s world where people tend to only surround themselves with people who agree with them. Conflict and being challenged is difficult. Yet, that is the very thing that sharpens us and helps us grow. It is where our strength and integrity are reshaped, sharpened and sized by the true guide—God’s Word. We need friends who are willing to drop the hammer on us, challenge us and do so from the foundation of scripture.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 reads in part, “Two are better than one, Because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. …Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
This passage shows why having good friends and being a good friend is important. It enables us to stand more securely in our faith. But the key is that last line where the two become three. Great friendships are a bond between two individuals established by faith in Jesus Christ. That is where the hammer is dropped, iron meets iron and true sharpening begins.
Ask yourself today; What kind of friend am I to others? And what friends do I allow to reshape my life? Are they doing so according to the sizing guide of God’s Word? Do I need to make some changes in this area of my life?
© 2025 Warren Martin. All rights Reserved.
