Keeping Your Axe Sharp

As Christians, we tend to start out our new lives of the born-again experience like a wildfire. The excitement of finally realizing our need for the saving power of a relationship with Jesus gives us new energy to life and like the early part of any relationship, we can’t get enough of Jesus. We get baptized, publicly declaring our faith. We read the Bible, excited to hear the story of the Gospel. We tell everyone around us that, they too, need to be reborn.

Then something happens. As alluded to above it’s like the relationship we first had with our spouses. In the beginning, we wanted to spend all our time with them and if we couldn’t be together, we talked on the phone with them for hours. We bought them gifts and did everything we could to be sure they knew how much we loved them. But over time that all slowed down until the relationship settled into something we all take for granted. We stopped trying to prove we loved them. We drift apart and though occasionally we fall into little spells of longing for our mate, those also taper off. The relationship simply gets dull. Especially when the truth of married life hits home. The drudgery of day to day life beats us down as we fight the battle of existence. Sick kids, work, taking care of the house, and yes, even our ministry gets hard.

This is exactly what we do with Jesus. We start to slow down on our Bible study and reading. Our prayer life becomes less and less. We no longer want to serve and that new house or new car desire can cause us to reconsider how much we give in terms of both money and time.

There is a great verse that speaks to this problem.

Ecclesiastes 10:10
If the axe is dull and he does not sharpen its edge, then he must exert more strength.

The truth is we, as disciples of Christ, become like an unsharpened axe. Though we keep trying to carry on in our faith, it becomes a real struggle that wears us down. We are dull and unsharpened axes.

The answer? We must continue to sharpen the axe head and make sure the handle is securely attached to the axe. We do this through the very act of time with God. This means we must read the Bible. We must pray. We must humble ourselves before God and confess our weakness and our sins.

Cutting firewood is hard work. But try it with a dull axe. We are blessed to have chain saws in our time but even a dull blade on a chain saw will make your work harder. And even though a woodsman is tired at the end of the day, he knows to carry on tomorrow, he must sharpen his axe head, so tomorrow he will be ready to get back to work. He will check his axe again in the morning to be sure it’s in the best condition possible. He will insure the head is solidly attached to the handle. Maybe he missed a spot last night when he sharpened it. He also knows if he has done a lot of work during the day, he might need to stop and sharpen the axe head as he works. We are no different.

So today commit to being sharp by taking time to read your Bible. Take time to pray. Do these things morning, during the day, and at night. Pray without ceasing. Keep watch over both your axe head and the handle. Otherwise you might just “fly off the handle.”

A good woodsman also wears the proper attire to protect Himself. Again, scripture instructs us.

Ephesians 6:10-18
 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.

Life is hard. Stay sharp. Let God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, use you to do the work.

May God richly bless each and every one of you.

What Do You Do When Life Gives You Lemons

There is an old saying that goes like this, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

Cute saying. I contend however that it's not Biblical. I know what you thinking; lighten up Mike, it's just a saying and it makes sense.

But hear me out. If all life gives you is lemons; you cannot make lemonade, you can only make lemon juice. And lemon juice is not all that good tasting. It’s sort of bitter and caustic. To make lemonade, you must have sugar. So, if all life gives you is lemons; you have a problem.

The person that wrote that statement was suggesting we can control our environment. We can take control of our own lives and even during the hardest times, we can still find pleasure in life. That’s what is wrong in our world. Without letting God in and without faith and hope in Christ, life tastes like lemon juice. So, we just keep looking for that right ingredient to make it sweet. We turn to drugs, alcohol, shopping, gambling, or whatever. Some people bounce from one thing to the next. Often we bounce from one relationship to another. If you take lemons and add cinnamon to it, you won’t have lemonade. If you add salt to lemon juice or you add pepper, or whatever, you still won’t get what you are looking for. You need sugar.

This is where faith in God really shows its value. God doesn’t need sugar to make lemonade. He doesn’t even need lemons. Listen to the story of the first miracle Jesus performed while on this earth as a man.

John 2:1-11
 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.
 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.”
This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

Jesus made wine from water. If you know anything about wine making you know that the process certainly requires more than just water. Not only does it require other ingredients, it requires time for fermentation. But when we turn to Christ to have our thirst quenched we get more than just water. We get the best wine available. And we get it in His time.

This life is tough. Even for Christians difficult circumstances arise. Things seem impossible and they don’t often make sense to us. Our lives will involve desert times. Dry periods of life that find us feeling as if we are dying of thirst. Sometime all we have in front of us are those proverbial lemons. And no matter how hard we try, we cannot make anything good out of those lemons. But if we walk by faith and wait on Jesus, we can know that He will make us lemonade.

This morning many of us in the body of Christ are struggling. Things are occurring around us that seem hopeless. They are not. The Bible says nothing is too hard for God and it says with Him, all things are possible. Hear this truth from Romans 8:28, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

All things. Somehow God is working this mess out for good, even if we cannot see it at the moment.

So, this morning, if all you have in front of you is a bunch of sour lemons, don’t try and make lemonade out of them. Do what the little boy did with the five loaves and the two fish. Give them to Jesus. He will provide you with all you need.

It’s called faith and you going to need it. So, put your faith in the resurrected savior. Put your faith in Jesus. Your thirst will be quenched and it will be more than you could ever imagine.

 There is an old saying that goes like this, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

Cute saying. I contend however that it's not Biblical. I know what you thinking; lighten up Mike, it's just a saying and it makes sense.

But hear me out. If all life gives you is lemons; you cannot make lemonade, you can only make lemon juice. And lemon juice is not all that good tasting. It’s sort of bitter and caustic. To make lemonade, you must have sugar. So, if all life gives you is lemons; you have a problem.

The person that wrote that statement was suggesting we can control our environment. We can take control of our own lives and even during the hardest times, we can still find pleasure in life. That’s what is wrong in our world. Without letting God in and without faith and hope in Christ, life tastes like lemon juice. So, we just keep looking for that right ingredient to make it sweet. We turn to drugs, alcohol, shopping, gambling, or whatever. Some people bounce from one thing to the next. Often we bounce from one relationship to another. If you take lemons and add cinnamon to it, you won’t have lemonade. If you add salt to lemon juice or you add pepper, or whatever, you still won’t get what you are looking for. You need sugar.

This is where faith in God really shows its value. God doesn’t need sugar to make lemonade. He doesn’t even need lemons. Listen to the story of the first miracle Jesus performed while on this earth as a man.