THE CONCEPT OF SHARPENING
“If the ax is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed, but skill will bring success.” Ecclesiastes 10:10 NIV
A dull ax still cuts, but it requires more strength than necessary. What is lacking is not effort, but preparation.
Many succumb to burnout, lukewarmness, or spiritual complacency not out of spite, but because somewhere along the way they relied on intensity rather than attentiveness to what has already been accomplished through Christ in us.
Wisdom reminds us that force is not the same as faithfulness, and exhaustion is not evidence of obedience. More often than not, we push harder instead of pausing to sharpen what has grown blunt. Scripture teaches that skill, cultivated through patience, discipline, and humility, accomplishes what raw strength cannot.
Child of God, sharpening takes time. It requires stillness, attention, and the willingness to admit dullness. Yet it is in those quiet places that God forms depth. Prayer sharpens discernment. Waiting sharpens trust. Obedience sharpens the heart. What feels like delay is often preparation.
Christ Himself did not live from haste or self-reliance. He withdrew to pray, listened before acting, grew in stature and favor, and moved in step with the Father’s will. His life reminds us that power flows from alignment, not urgency.
The call, then, is not to strive harder, but to be made ready. When we allow God to sharpen us, our work becomes lighter, our strength more enduring, and our labor more fruitful.
Prayer: My Father, I thank you for this truth. Show me where I have relied on effort instead of wisdom. Teach me to welcome the work of sharpening. Form my heart through prayer, patience, and obedience, that my life may reflect your skill rather than my striving, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
CI.
RELATED RESOURCES
• 2 Timothy 2:15
• Proverbs 16:32
• Luke 16:10
