Keeping Your Edge...

Early last evening, as I was sweating, working my rear off mowing the grass that will not stop growing…near the end of my chore I noticed something. My mower was doing a terrible job of cutting the grass. In the taller grass, it just ripped through the grass and didn’t cut it at all. When I checked, the blade was dull…very dull. In fact, it would make a butter knife look razor sharp! Now, in addition to being hot and sweaty, I was frustrated because upon a closer examination, the grass looked terrible. I hadn’t invested the time to sharpen the blade and now my efforts did not yield the results I had intended. It was then God spoke to me and shared his frustration with me. Because I am not ‘sharp,’ my witness is not what it should be. O yeah, I do a good job compared to some people…at least I get out there and try…but because I do not invest proper time in the Word or in His presence sharpening my witness, it does not yield the results it could/should…the results God intends. Because my witness, upon close examination, is sloppy and ineffective, God is frustrated with me. Two things I want to life up…first of all, God does not want me to compare my witness efforts to others…that is like comparing apples to oranges. God has called us to witness, not to compare witnesses. Secondly, if I do not continually ‘sharpen’ or spiritually mature, my witness and even my faith will become dull and ineffective. Without the proper maintenance, it might even become like a broken mower stranded among the tallest of weeds. When’s the last time your blade was sharpened?