Sharpening Your Blade
By Russell McKinney
Mitchell County
“Sharpening Your Blade to Get in Shape in 2025”
For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. (1 Timothy 4:8, N.K.J.V.)
Christian, perhaps you are one of the hordes of people who are hitting 2025 full bore with a new diet or workout routine. Well, there’s certainly nothing wrong with that. But even as you try to get yourself into a better physical condition, you’d do well to prioritize getting yourself into a better spiritual condition. After all, as 1 Timothy 4:8 teaches, your spiritual condition is more important than your physical condition.
Am I trying to diminish the importance of the “little” that bodily exercise profits? Nope. Truth be told, many of us need that “little” and a whole lot more! All I’m saying is that your spiritual condition is more important than your physical condition. This is something we tend to forget in this world that is obsessed with outward appearances.
Of course, the problem is that getting yourself into a better spiritual condition isn’t always easy, is it? If it was, we’d all be in ideal shape spiritually right now! So let me give you a practical tip that will help you in this area. The tip is: If you want to get yourself into better shape spiritually, work smarter at it rather than harder.
In Ecclesiastes 10:10, the Bible says: “Using a dull ax requires great strength, so sharpen the blade. That’s the value of wisdom; it helps you succeed” (N.I.V.). The lesson Solomon is conveying is that working smarter is better than working harder. He’s using wood-chopping as his illustration, but his lesson can be applied to any area where wisdom is required in life. That includes the area of repentance. Therefore, Christian, be sure to spiritually sharpen your blade this new year before you attempt any repentance.
And how do you sharpen your blade? First, you solemnly rededicate yourself to Jesus to bring everything about you under His Lordship. Second, in blunt honesty, you confess your sins to Him and ask Him to forgive those sins. Third, you immerse yourself afresh and anew in daily prayer, Bible study, and the doing of God’s will.
You see if your plan to repent of the lingering sin in your life hinges upon little more than you throwing more effort into not sinning, that is akin to you chopping harder without sharpening your ax blade. Consequently, your plan is probably destined for failure. After all, you’ve “tried harder” to repent of the sin in the past, only to find that your increased effort didn’t get the job done, right? That being the case, what makes you think that taking that same approach in this new year is going to produce different results?
A better plan, one with a greater chance of success, features you sharpening your ax blade spiritually as an indispensable part of your accomplishing your repentance. In addition to trying to give up your sin, you start up with an increased amount of prayer, Bible study, and submission to God’s will. By doing that, the hole that is left in your 24-hour day by you no longer wasting precious time on your sin will be filled with things of the Lord. That’s how you work smarter rather than harder at your repentance, and that’s how you get yourself into better shape spiritually this year.
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Russell Mckinney lives in the English Woods area of Spruce Pine and serves as the pastor of Roan Mountain Baptist Church in Bakersville.
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