The term and perhaps the story are often attributed to Abraham Lincoln. What Lincoln meant when he talked about sharpening the axe is a term for being efficient – stating that it is more efficient to work smart, rather than working hard. To do that we need rest, recreation, and rejuvenation for our minds and bodies.
Society often glorifies being busy, busy, busy as if resting is a waste of time and that we should always be working or doing something. Some Christians may misunderstand biblical passages concerning work leading to the belief that it is a sign of weakness to rest.
Have You Sharpened Your Axe?
A young man approached the foreman of a logging crew and asked for a job.
“That depends,” replied the foreman. “Let’s see you fell this tree.” The young man stepped forward and skillfully felled a great tree. Impressed, the foreman exclaimed, “You can start Monday.”
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday rolled by. Thursday afternoon the foreman approached the young man and said, “You can pick up your paycheck on the way out today.”
Startled, the young man replied, “I thought you paid on Friday.”
“Normally we do,” said the foreman. “But we’re letting you go today because you’ve fallen behind. Our daily felling charts show that you’ve dropped from first place on Monday to last place today.”
“But I’m a hard worker,” the young man objected. “I arrive first, leave last and even have worked through my coffee breaks!”
The foreman, sensing the young man’s integrity, thought for a minute and then asked, “Have you been sharpening your axe?”
The young man replied, “No sir, I’ve been working too hard to take time for that!”
— Author Unknown
Our lives can be like that as we become so busy that we do not take the time to “sharpen the axe.” And isn’t it interesting that people are less happy the busier they are? God loves us and wants us to take care of ourselves and to have time to spend with him. Take time to be involved in the important things in life: family, friends, prayer, reading scripture. And not only did God rest but Jesus made it a point to rest.
If an axe is not sharpened, it becomes dull and loses its effectiveness. Following are some scriptures that may encourage you to rest and soothe your heart and soul.
Genesis 2: 2-3 “And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he RESTED on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.”
Exodus 20:8-11“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”
Exodus 33:14“My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
Leviticus 25:4 “But in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard.”
Psalm 73:26“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”