[ampaterry]

William D. Boyd wrote this in Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome:

Some years ago a young man approached the foreman of a logging crew and asked for a job. "That depends," replied the foreman. "Let's see you fell this tree." The young man stepped forward and skillfully felled a great tree. Impressed, the foreman exclaimed, "Start Monday!"

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday rolled by, and Thursday afternoon the foreman approached the young man and said, "You can pick up your paycheck on the way out today."

Startled, he replied, "I thought you paid on Friday."

"Normally we do," answered the foreman, "but we're letting you go today because you've fallen behind. Our daily felling charts show that you've dropped from first place on Monday to last on Wednesday."

"But I'm a hard worker," the young man objected. "I arrive first, leave last, and even have worked through my coffee breaks!"

The foreman, sensing the boy's integrity thought for a minute and then asked, "Have you been sharpening your ax?"

The young man replied, "I've been working too hard to take the time."

How about you? Have you been too busy, too hard at work to sharpen your ax? You say you don’t know what I’m talking about? Your MINISTRY is your ax! Your witness is your ax. How do you sharpen it? Prayer and Bible study! These two make up the hone that gives you that sharp edge. Without it, the more work you do, the duller you'll get, and the less effective you are.

Daniel; 9:13 (KJV);
“As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.”

Remember those old parting words "Keep your powder dry"?
We can now add to them "And your ax sharp!"

God bless each one of you -