Sitting at the Feet of Jesus

A few weeks ago I heard a really great sermon about how important it is to take a Sabbath rest, to take that time and just be with our great and awesome God, and spend time doing things like being with family and resting and getting ready for the next week. He gave the good reminder that the Sabbath was "made for man, not man for the sabbath", and how wonderful it is to be able to spend that with our Savior. :-) He gave an illustration that I want to share - (probably going to mess it up a bit... But bear with me - I'm doing it from memory! ;-) Also, I have no idea who to credit this story with, so...).

Once there was a young strong lumberjack who went to a lumberjack camp and asked what other lumberjack did the most work in the camp, and the other guys pointed to a little old man sitting a short distance awhile. The young lumberjack walked over and challenged the old man to a contest - the next day they would both go out and cut trees, and whoever had cut the most trees at the end of the day would be the best in the camp. The old lumberjack agreed, and the next day, bright and early, the two men set out and set to work. The young lumberjack set to work working hard and fast, sometimes he would get tired, and would look over and see the old man sitting down for 15 minutes every hour or so, and the young man would laugh and decide not to take a break, even when things got hard. That night when the two of them got back to camp, the young lumberjack found out that the older man had chopped far and beyond the number of trees he himself had been able too. Stunned he asked the old man what his secret was, since he had seen him sitting down to rest so often over the course of the day. The old man grinned and answered, "Each time I sat down to rest, I was sharpening my ax. And a sharpened ax can chop much faster than one that isn't."

This applies to our lives too - if we take that time to sit down and "sharpen" our "axes", AKA recharge in Christ's strength and love, then when we get back to our work we will be prepared and strengthened to be able to take on everything life throws our way.

So, take the time - even if it's just a short time each day, to sit and let the Lord prepare you for life. Take that time each week to have a Sabbath where you take a break, and sit at Jesus' feet and learn from Him.