Stay Sharp

In the book, Tony Evans Speaks Out On Fasting, he tells the story of a young lumberjack who challenges an older, more experienced lumberjack to a contest. The younger fellow was confident and sure that he could cut down more trees that anyone. The contest began early one morning. The younger cut down tree after tree believing his strength and stamina would be too much for the older fellow. He was even more convinced he would win because he kept seeing the old lumberjack take breaks. At the end of the day, after the trees had been tallied for each man, the result was that the older had cut down one third more than the younger lumberjack. Shocked, he went to the older man to find out how he had beaten him. “Son, what you don’t understand is that every time I sat down for what you call a break, I was sharpening my axe. A well-sharpened axe makes for a lot less work, so trees fall faster.”

Ecclesiastes 10:10  tells us, “If the ax is dull, And one does not sharpen the edge, Then he must use more strength; But wisdom brings success.” There is no wiser course than to make sure that you take time to “sharpen your edge.” Whether it is in your marriage or ministry, you need to keep your spiritual edge keen. The reality is that “the flesh” will only get you so far in life.  You can work harder and get much done but it will fall short and even fail much of the time. We need to work wiser or spiritually. This is when we “walk in the Spirit” and put no “confidence in the flesh.”

Take time to sharpen your axe daily and frequently. I believe this means that we must take “holy pauses” and spend time in God’s presence. It is “prayer closet time” that will sharpen your spiritual man and enable you to live supernaturally. Intimacy with the Father will cause you to rise up to a new level of wisdom. Living from Divine Wisdom instead of “hard work” will be liberating and productive in a way that you never could expect otherwise. This is living out of the “secret place” and when you do you will live life “under His shadow.” Living under the shadow of the Almighty is living wise!

So, take time to stop what you are doing. Get into your prayer closet (wherever you can be alone with God) and drink deeply of His love and grace. Do this as often as you can and when you feel the dullness coming on. Stay sharp!

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