Ecclesiastes 10:10 “If the ax is dull, and one does not sharpen the edge, then he must use more strength, but wisdom brings success.”
In the book Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Steven Covey lists Habit #7 as Sharpen the Ax. The analogy may not be familiar today, but for centuries, people cut wood with an ax for building buildings and/or to cook and/or for woodstoves and fireplaces for keeping things warm, etc. Cutting wood with an ax was a daily activity.
Anyone using an ax knows a sharp ax is more productive than a dull ax. The problem is the more you use the ax, the more DULL it becomes. The woodcutter has to make wise decisions. They have to decide to not only have an axe but a WHETSTONE. As valuable as the ax was to the user, so too was a whetstone. A whetstone was used to sharpen the ax!
The second decision is to spend time SHARPENING THE AX. This would mean NOT CUTTING WOOD for a period of time. This created tension for the woodcutter, and they would be tempted to forgo sharpening the ax as it took time away from cutting. Our verse, though, tells that this decision is a bad decision as using a DULL ax would take more TIME and it takes more EFFORT. In the long run, one will find that there was less production. Thus, it would be incredibly wise for one to take the TIME to sharpen their ax.
Sharpening the ax speaks for us today of PREPARATION! It is what is done before we do what needs to be done. For a vocation, it is getting a high school degree. It is getting the training, whether as an apprentice or a trade school, or a community school. or a university to perform the desired job. Some preparation takes longer as skills must be mastered.
What is your AX today? It could be your education. It could be with your vocation. It could be your next vacation. It could be related to a team event. It could be cutting some firewood. What is your AX that needs sharpening before use? What is that thing that is saying you must pay the upfront cost? What is saying you need to spend time (and money) to BE PREPARED?
Whatever those answers are, WISDOM is saying success follows sharpening.
The successful will tell you they VALUE the PREPARATION AS MUCH AS THE PERFORMANCE! Do you value PREPARATION? Do you value SHARPENING the Ax?
Prior prayerful, purposeful, positive preparation PRECEDES powerful, productive performance.
Continue Strong PREPARING to be more PRODUCTIVE
And remember to DATE THE WORD