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Men of Integrity, May/June 2007
Making a Great Knife Blade
Theme of the Week: Tempered Through Trials
Monday, June 11
Key Bible Verse: I can learn what it means to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that, somehow, I can experience the resurrection from the dead (Philippians 3:10-11)! Bonus Reading: Isaiah 49:1-6
Buck knives have been called the best sporting knives in the world. Chuck Buck, CEO of the Buck Knife Corp., says, "The Christian life is analogous to our process of making blades. The blade is put in the furnace and has to go through 2,000-degree heat for 45 minutes to an hour.
"Then we plunge it into a 100-degree-below-zero container for three hours. After that, it's put in a tempering furnace for one and a half to two hours at a low, steady 800 degrees, and it really seems we've forgotten this little knife. Finally it comes out, toughened to a 58 Rockwell hardness and ready for anything.
"When a person gets saved, he thinks, Now I'm a Christian and everything is going to be okay. But all of a sudden here come the temptations, here comes the persecution, and the person thinks God has forgotten him. I've been tempered through the trials I've faced."
Pain and loss forge strength into our character and teach us about the character of God. They remove our impurities, harden our moral fiber, and make us more useful tools in His hand.
—Stephen Arterburn in The Power Book
My Response: What do I suspect God has been using to forge my character?
Adapted from The Power Book (Nelson, 1996) by permission.
Copyright © 2007 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
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May/June 2007, Vol. 10, No. 3
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Prayer for the Week |
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Keep me, Lord, from resenting the tests You bring to bear. Help me accept the toughening process You've prescribed for me.
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