Sharpen Your Ax

“Be still, and know that I am God;” Psalm 46:10a

A young man approached the foreman of a logging crew and asked for a job. “That depends,” replied the foreman. “Let’s see you fell this tree.” The young man stepped forward, and skillfully felled 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 are letting you go today because you have fallen behind. Our daily felling charts show that you have dropped from first place on Monday to last place today.”

“But I am 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 ax?”

The young man replied, “No sir. I have been working too hard to take time for that!”

If your life is anything like mine, this story hits home. I find myself too busy to invest in my relationship with God at times because I am too busy for God, or at least I think I am. Do you find yourself too busy but less happy? Why is that? Could it be you and I have forgotten to stay sharp?

There is 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 Scripture, 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 ax, we will become dull and lose our effectiveness.


Growing Together,

Brad Lauer
Discipleship Pastor