FIVE WAYS TO SHARPEN OUR FAITH AX – GOD’S WAY
August 29th, 2018
The decline in the percentage of people who call themselves Christians but never read the Bible is increasing at a more rapid pace than even ten years ago, as the number of Biblical illiterates grows by leaps and bounds. As the quantity of the spiritual unwise, unredeemed and face it – spiritually dead in their iniquity- climb, the wisdom of the wise is now being called foolishness, some even inside the assembly.But what does mean for the Faithful? How does the Remnant respond when we are now in the shrinking minority of those who walk boldly in the Word, all day, each day? This illustration from the hills of Tennessee should give us some sort of direction.
There was once a wood-chopping contest in the Smoky Mountains, similar to the rail-splitting competitions in Central Illinois town of Lincoln, Illinois. President Abraham Lincoln was the rugged outdoorsman who split huge blocks of wooden rails with his ax, long before he became the great 16th President of the United States. Back to this wood-chopping contest in the Smokies: two men decided to compete against each other in this contest.
One man chopped wood all day long. The other man chopped, then took a break, then chopped some more. The first man who chopped without stopping began to get frustrated as he saw the other guy, apparently taking multiple breaks yet his pile of wood was getting bigger and bigger. Finally, at the end of the day, this frustrated man lost to the other gentleman who has taking many breaks and seemingly not working as hard.
One man chopped wood all day long. The other man chopped, then took a break, then chopped some more. The first man who chopped without stopping began to get frustrated as he saw the other guy, apparently taking multiple breaks yet his pile of wood was getting bigger and bigger. Finally, at the end of the day, this frustrated man lost to the other gentleman who has taking many breaks and seemingly not working as hard.
Most Christians are fully aware of the record of Jesus’ interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well in Sychar, recorded in John’s gospel, chapter 4. As I was reading this again, only God knows how many times, it occurred to me that Jesus’ words to her are some of the most gracious in the Gospels. You will remember that He went to Sychar, Samaria intentionally, vs. 4 says He “needed” to go there. While there, Jesus went and sat by the well. Soon a woman from the city came to draw water.