Keeping Your Spiritual Edge Sharp

Greetings Church Family,

I read an article years ago about a great professional football coach. He coached the Green Bay Packers and won the first Super Bowl. His name is Vince Lombardi. He started every year’s training camp for the new season with the same speech. He would hold up a football and say, “gentlemen, this is a football.” That seemed ridiculous to me at first read. Of course, they knew it was a football. They were professional football players! As I continued to peruse the article, I caught his philosophy. He declared they would review the basics for the first week of training camp. If the basics were not solid and mastered, everything else would break down in the future.

The team mastered the basics and built a dominant team of power and ability that lasted for several years to come. I want us to consider a unique verse found in Ecclesiastes 10:10. It says, “If the axe is dull and he does not sharpen its edge, then he must exert more strength. Wisdom has the advantage of giving success.”  

Some time ago, I read about two loggers. They used axes and saws to harvest trees for a lumber mill. One was younger and had bulging muscles. The other was older and strong through years of logging. The younger man said to the older man “Let’s have a contest today to see who can feel the greater number of trees.” The older man chuckled and said “yes.” As the day went on, the older man stopped every two or three trees to sharpen his axe. The younger man never slowed down. As his axe became increasingly duller, he simply used more muscle. At the end of the day, the older and wiser man had cut down thirty percent more trees than the younger man. The younger man marveled and simply asked “how did you do that? You stopped four times today and I did not stop one time. I worked harder and you still bested me.”  

The older man explained that a sharp axe works many times better than a dull axe and needs less effort. The younger man learned a valuable lesson that day. He needed to maintain a sharp cutting edge upon his axe. He learned to work smarter, not just harder! I find myself getting so involved in work and busyness, that I neglect to stop regularly and sharpen my cutting edge. It causes me to work harder with less fruit. I become more exhausted and lose my joy. Life quickly becomes a chore and something I can dread at those times. I have lived and ministered long enough to recognize faster my dilemma and the cause. By God’s grace, I find a way to stop and get back on track with the Lord as my priority and source.  

How do we keep our cutting edge sharp? Our daily relationship with Elohim [Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit] must be the beginning of each day. Spend time in the secret place mentioned in Matthew 6 reading the Bible, praying, and worshipping. Then, ask the Holy Spirit to guide your steps through the day. Your relationship and joy will be restored. Take pause a few times each day for 5-10 minutes to refresh with the Lord. Sharpen your “axe” so to speak and go at it again. This applies to stay-at-home moms who are crazy busy or people at work who live in stressful situations each day. Start with the Lord and walk with Him wisely each day. The promise of this verse is that you will have His strength and success. 

May the abundance of God’s presence and overflowing blessings be your portion each day this year. 

Tony