Take Time to Sharpen

There are times when it doesn't make sense to keep on working because the tool you're using is just too dull. That's the way it was at Out of the Woodwork shop today. Although I had plans to move forward with a couple projects, the even louder than usual noise coming from the planer indicated that it was time to forego the work I wanted to do and spend the session removing, sharpening and replacing the planer blades. This is the way woodworking works. Sometimes the work stops to enable the work to continue more effectively.

The parallels between woodworking and living in general never fail to amaze me. Just as the woodworker needs to take time to maintain the tools that he or she uses, so do we need to spend time sharpening the tools that allow abundant living to be possible. The primary tools for living are a sense of right and wrong. We sharpen those tools by spending time sharpening that sense. Just as in the example of sharpening the planer, we have to stop doing in order to make doing effective. Living life abundantly is God's promise to us and His Word has all the sharpening equipment we need in order to make that happen.

I encourage all you good folks who may read this to take time to sharpen so that whatever you build is enabled by using sharp tools and righteous living.