Stay sharp

In my morning devotional, I came across the word, “slothful.” (Hebrews 6:12). “Slothful” is used to

translate the Greek word “nothros.” It means dull, slow, or inefficient. I certainly would not want to be considered dull. Then I came across another verse in Ecclesiastes 10:10 said, “If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength…” I’ve been there before.

Years ago I was pastor of a small congregation at Hargis, Louisiana. One of the men in the church was a logger and invited me to help cut and load pulp wood. I was young and willing.

Several times a week we would go into the woods cut logs and load them by hand on a pulp wood truck. I got dirty, scratched, sunburned, and muscled up. My friend let me borrow his chain saw to cut the logs. At first the saw would cut quickly through the logs. But, after a while it went slower and slower. The brother smiled at me and said, “You have to keep the blade out of the dirt or it will dull the saw teeth.” It turned into harder and harder work. My arms went numb, I seemed to lose all strength in my arms, and I gave up, and settled to just help him load the logs.

I learned a lesson. I needed to stay sharp to do the Lord’s work. I could be very busy but still not make much head way in the work before me. Prayer time, Bible study, devotional time, meditation, and personal worship are utilized by the Holy Spirit to make me effective in God’s kingdom work. Ask the Holy Spirit to hone your spiritual tools for your calling from God.