Have you ever wondered why the word of God is compared to an iron rod? It makes sense that as we walk the path of the gospel, the word of God is a solid and reliable thing to hold onto and therefore an iron rod is a good symbol of that solid reliability. But why iron specifically? After all, iron gets rusty when exposed to water, and as we know, big stretches of the gospel path are shrouded in very wet patches of misty darkness. Parts of that iron rod have to get pretty rusty and flake off and probably get onto our hands in a way that is hard to get off. But isn't that a good thing? Shouldn't we want the word of God to stick to us and get into our skin in a way that is hard to get out? The truth is, we can't run away from the word of God. Iron is the most abundant element on Earth. More than silicon, which makes most of the sand and a lot of the dirt and is in all of our electronics. More than carbon which is the basic element for all living things. More than oxygen, which is in the air we breathe and the water we drink. The earth’s core, which is mostly iron, is responsible for generating the magnetic field that protects us from harmful radiation. Iron is an essential part of the hemoglobin in our blood, which helps transfer oxygen to our cells. Iron is in the nails keeping our houses together and in the reinforced concrete we walk on and in practically everything made out of metal since the start of the Iron Age thousands of years ago. As abundant as iron is and as useful as it is in protecting us and sustaining us and sheltering us, the word of God is even more so. All things testify of the reality of God and His love for us. We should never have to go searching for the rod of iron or feel for one moment of our lives that there are no words of God for us to hold onto. The word of God is beneath our feet and its influence stretches out over our heads and is in our very blood. I hope that we will all feel the word of God all around us and never stop praying for it to be revealed to us in new and ever varying ways. I know the word of God is real and that we will walk with more confidence and faith down the gospel path as long as we hold onto it.
