Sharpen Your Axe

                                             

Well, I got the footstomping/message I needed in church this a.m.  Yet I have to say it was hard to walk over to the Sanctuary with kids milling around wanting to have Children's Church.  I need a new fresh work force behind me....so I can have my occasional adult Sunday and they always have their special service.  Oh, well.  I trust God is working on it.

My discomfort caused by pastors sermon and the special music was due to my slipping and letting slide the "three r's" of discipleship......pray, read and study.  Listen and obey.  Ouch!

I don't have a copy of pastor's sermon.....we aren't that high-tech here in the sticks.  But I do have this precious little gem from Dwayne Savaya at Gods Work Ministry.  So read, enjoy and then rub those sore feet.

 

SHARPEN YOUR AXE   A young man approached the foreman of a logging crew and asked for a job. "That depends," replied the foreman. "Let's see you chop down this tree." The young man stepped forward and skillfully chopped down a great tree.  Impressed, the foreman exclaimed, "You can start Monday."   Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday rolled by -- and Thursday afternoon the foreman approached the young man and said, "You can pick up your paycheck on the way out today."   Startled, the young man replied, "I thought you paid on Friday."   "Normally we do," said the foreman. "But we're letting you go today because you've fallen behind.Our daily felling charts show that you've dropped from first place on Monday to last place today."   "But I'm a hard worker," the young man objected. "I arrive first, leave last and even have worked through my coffee breaks!"   The foreman, sensing the young man's integrity, thought for a minute and then asked, "Have you been sharpening your axe?"   The young man replied, "No sir, I've been working too hard to take time for that!"   Author Unknown     Our lives are like that. We sometimes get so busy that we don't take time to "sharpen the ax." In today's world, it seems that everyone is busier than ever but less happy than ever. Why is that? Could it be that we have forgotten how to stay sharp?   There's nothing wrong with activity and hard work. But God doesn't want us to get so busy that we neglect the truly important things in life, like taking time to pray, to read and study scriptures or to listen to "The still small voice of God." We all need time to relax, to think and meditate, to learn and grow. If we don't take time to sharpen the axe, we will become dull and lose our effectiveness to be better ministers and witnesses for Christ.   I encourage you to spend time with the Lord.  Pour out your heart to Him, confess your sins, ask Him to guide and lead you to the best place where He wants you to be and you will see God faithfully answer your prayers and refresh you from the inside out.