Sharpening the Ax

Several years ago, I went to a Youth Ministers Conference with Larry.  While our husbands were meeting, they had different sessions, activities, and excursions for the wives. 

A pastor’s wife from Dallas was one of the main speakers for our sessions.  In one of her messages, she spoke of the importance of taking time to rest, renew, and check our priorities.  Since we were involved with our families, church, our children’s schools, sports, and other activities, we needed to watch spreading ourselves too thin.  Being too busy not only made us tired, but also not as productive as we could be.  She used the analogy of taking time to sharpen the ax.  Too many times, we just keep chopping away without taking time to make sure the ax has been sharpened.  The result is we make more work for ourselves and don’t have time to enjoy what we are doing.  Even though we had several good choices, we needed to aim for what was best.

Apparently, that was something I needed to listen to because I’ve remembered it all these years.  But more than hearing it, I needed to apply it.  Whether it’s for 5 minutes, an hour, or a day it does make a difference when I take time to rest, renew, and check my priorities.

Psalm 62:5
Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;
my hope comes from him.

Matthew 11:28-29
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Mark 6:31
³¹ Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

Hebrews 4:9-11
There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God;
for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.
Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.