“If the axe is dull and he does not sharpen its edge, then he must exert more strength.” (Eccl. 10:10)

When my spiritual edge becomes dull, I have to work harder to walk the walk and talk the talk of a devoted follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. We try harder to remember to say the right thing. We work at covering over our inner sinfulness so no one else sees us as we are. We fear failure, being caught in a lie or distortion of the truth, a “small” bit of gossip. We worry about what other people think of us. We take criticisms hard (even constructive ones), defend ourselves, or subtly tear the other person down. The Christlike life is hard, so we try to remember how we should act, only to continually find reasons to not do as Jesus would. We resort to soothing our conscience by resorting to the cliché that “no one is perfect.”

Of course, we are imperfect, but that doesn’t mean we must struggle through life with a dull axe. To be sure, if we want to be followers of Jesus Christ, it will be difficult to keep up with Him. He didn’t promise it would be easy. But He did promise to give us everything we need to live His way if we abide in Him.

Recently, I heard a young preacher spend most of his sermon telling the congregation to walk in the intimacy of the Lord. We need to charge ahead and be committed, he said. As I looked around the audience, I saw some people who looked weak and in need of a spiritual medic, not a charge to be more spiritual or feel guilty.

So, how does one sharpen the saw so that following Jesus is, like He said, an easy yoke to bear? Mindful that it is still a yoke, it is in following Him that we find our strength. In the abiding is intimacy. So, how do you do that? Is it only for the super-spiritual? Hardly!

For me, sharpening the axe so I can work better and more efficiently for the Lord is the key. By working more efficiently, I mean serving in the strength of the Spirit and not my own strength—so that I am not wasting my emotional and spiritual energies by doing things in my own strength with all my insecurities, doubts, fears, and temptations. It means resisting the weakening influence of our soul’s enemy who wants to hold us captive to feelings of not being perfect.

For the original disciples, following the Lord meant spending time listening to the Word of God as Jesus spoke it to them. They were with Him day in and day out, talking with Him, asking Him questions, trusting Him to get out of the boat, and risking failure at casting out demons.

For us today, we can sharpen our spiritual axe by listening to God’s word day in and day out, talking to our Lord in prayer, getting out of our comfortable boat and not letting fear of drowning stop us, and being willing to take risks and not be turned back from following Him because of our failure—just like the first disciples. Yes, these things are hard, but not the dull-axe sort of way. That is why we need time to sharpen our axe by daily listening to the Word of God and conversing with Him in prayer.

Is your axe dull? Is your spiritual tank low or empty? Do you need to be more effective and efficient in your spiritual tasks for the Lord? Is your spiritual vitality flagging? Sharpen your axe daily!