Sharpen the Ax
The night before I left to attend Baylor University and prepare for the ministry, the pastor and members of Fork Creek Baptist Church gave me some encouragements and some admonitions. The pastor, Albert Mulkey, had not been to college or seminary, but he gave one of the best insights I have ever heard. He took it from Solomon's wisdom in Ecclesiastes, when he spoke of a dull ax that needed to be sharpened. (Ecclesiastes 10:10) We can all profit from what I was told that night.
We are like axes. If we are dull, it takes more strength to chop the wood. However, if we sharpen the edge of the ax, then, things will be much easier. Solomon told us how to sharpen our ax. He said, "Wisdom brings success." We sharpen our ax by gaining wisdom from the Lord. Rev. Mulkey's admonition to me was to gain as much knowledge and wisdom as I could. He had labored hard to do the Lord's work without an education, but he knew this verse, and he understood it well. I praise the Lord that God enabled me to go to Baylor and to seminary. My life in the ministry has not been easy, but it has been much easier than if I did not have the knowledge and wisdom attained from those studies and my time with the Lord.
The same is true for all of us. We will have much more success if we gain wisdom from our study and from our relationship with the Lord. Please, apply your heart and mind to get wisdom, so your life will be so much better.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Ecclesiastes 12 and Song of Solomon 1-2.
We are like axes. If we are dull, it takes more strength to chop the wood. However, if we sharpen the edge of the ax, then, things will be much easier. Solomon told us how to sharpen our ax. He said, "Wisdom brings success." We sharpen our ax by gaining wisdom from the Lord. Rev. Mulkey's admonition to me was to gain as much knowledge and wisdom as I could. He had labored hard to do the Lord's work without an education, but he knew this verse, and he understood it well. I praise the Lord that God enabled me to go to Baylor and to seminary. My life in the ministry has not been easy, but it has been much easier than if I did not have the knowledge and wisdom attained from those studies and my time with the Lord.
The same is true for all of us. We will have much more success if we gain wisdom from our study and from our relationship with the Lord. Please, apply your heart and mind to get wisdom, so your life will be so much better.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Ecclesiastes 12 and Song of Solomon 1-2.