If the iron be blunt

If the iron be blunt

Scripture: If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct. Ecclesiastes 10:10

Observation: This Scripture gives us the image of a blunt iron that has not been sharpened. As a result, the user has to put in more strength than necessary. There is a simple story I heard of two woodcutters, let’s call them Dan and Sam. The first woodcutter, Dan saw that Sam was felling more trees than him consistently everyday even though Sam was smaller than him. “Perhaps he works harder”, the Dan thought, and endeavored to work as hard as possible the next few weeks. Surprisingly, no matter how hard he tried, Dan still could not match Sam. Finally in great tiredness, he gave up, and asked Sam “I don’t understand, how can you fell more trees than me every time?”. Sam shrugged his shoulders and replied “After every few trees, I stop a while to sharpen my axe.”

The moral of the story and the proverb, is that we need to sharpen our axe regularly to remain useful and efficient. But how do we sharpen our iron? I can think of three ways.

Application:

Firstly, we should spend time with those who are good in that particular area. For example, for us to grow in the Lord, we should spend time with godly brothers and sisters we look up to. Their testimony and words will enrich us and spur us on in our Christian faith. Going for conferences or reading the books of godly men and women of God also is important. As the Proverb goes, as iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens his friend. 

Secondly, we should have an attitude that always wants to learn. This does not mean we should accept everything blindly, but to be open and assess everything, expecting to learn something always, even in unexpected places.

Finally, and most importantly, we should spend some time in prayer, and commune with Jesus and reading His Word for that will really keep us sharp and useful. The Word of God is after all sharper than any two edged sword.

Prayer:

Lord, give me a heart that yearns to learn and improve all the time that I may serve you better. Lead me to friends and leaders who will teach me and draw me closer to you. Give me a heart which loves Your Word and loves to spend time with You and hear Your voice. Bless You, Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.