Edge

Have you ever tried to cut something with a blade that was blunt and dull? Pretty hard to do isn't it. Being a Christian is much like a knife. We are either spiritually sharp or we are dull. God wants us to stay spiritually sharp. 

"If the iron is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge, he must use more strength, but wisdom helps one to succeed." Ecclesiastes 10:10 ESV

God is using a great illustration here to show the truth that we often miss. If you lose your edge spiritually, you lose your effectiveness as well. 

I feel like this from time to time. I exert strenuous amounts of effort but I make little progress in my spiritual life. God's desire for me is to go forward in my life. He wants me to progress and not become stagnant in my spiritual life. 

I once had the pleasure of once knowing a man that was a logger back in the time when you used an ax and not a chainsaw to cut down timber. Once when I was sitting around talking with this wise man, he told me about what he would do after he cut down a tree. He would take a little break after he felled a tree on the stump, take a file out of his pocket, and he would sharpen the edge of the ax. He would sit there until the ax was sharp again, then he would go on to the next tree. Every time he chopped down a tree he would do the same thing. I asked him if the other men on his crew did this and he replied that most did not follow this practice. They just wanted to keep going, never stopping to sharpen their ax. Without fail, he always got more done than they did and he used a lot less effort. The other men on his crew had to use a lot more strength, yet they got a lot less done. 

Our life with Christ is much like this. If we don't take time every day to read our Bible and pray, then we gradually lose spiritual strength. We tire and weaken over time until we can't go on. We need our time with God to keep our strength up and to keep us spiritual sharp. 

Don't allow your edge to dull, take time to use the iron we have at our disposal to keep you sharp.