Sharpen your axe

"If the ax is dull

and its edge unsharpened,

more strength is needed,
but skill will bring success." -Ecclesiastes 10:10

This verse always reminds me of Stephen Covey's lovely story which speaks to us of  'sharpening the saw'. We often feel we don't have time to stop and get our 'tools' sharpened, but we then plod along using blunt tools to try and do an effective work. The time we take to pause to get things 'sharp' is well worth it in the long run. 

Jesus practiced this in his own life too. He took time to get his priorities straight and this made his ministry deeply profound and effective.

What are you doing to keep yourself sharp for the Lord?

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Ironies of life

As Solomon heads deeper into chapter 10, he starts to reflect on some of the ironies of life. He even goes so far as to say that these ironies are almost evil in some ways. This is what he says about some decisions made by leaders, politicians and rulers.

"There is another evil I have seen under the sun. Kings and rulers make a grave mistake when they give great authority to foolish people and low positions to people of proven worth. I have even seen servants riding horseback like princes—and princes walking like servants!" - Ecclesiastes 10:5-7

I don't think he is being derogatory about uneducated people gaining positions of leadership, but rather about rulers appointing their cronies to positions of power, when those people are not qualified for the job. Then in the same way, people who are skilled in certain fields are over-looked for leadership. This kind of treatment is not going to get your subjects excited about serving on your leadership team.

“You don't necessarily need atomic bombs to destroy a nation. Politicians who value their pockets than the life of citizens always do that every day.”
― Israelmore Ayivor

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Be careful with your words

I wonder how many times Solomon said something in anger, only to realise that he should have responded with a more controlled tone of voice? The reason I suggest this is because he mentions this a number of times in Ecclesiastes and in Proverbs, which makes me wonder. Take these words as an example:

"If a ruler’s anger rises against you, do not leave your post;
    calmness can lay great offenses to rest." - Ecclesiastes 10: 4

Or in the New Living Translation...

If your boss is angry at you, don’t quit!   A quiet spirit can overcome even great mistakes.

His most famous quote about this subject has to be "a quiet word turns away wrath" (Proverbs 15:1).

I think we all get his point! We can often change the course of an aggressive conversation by watching how we speak or what tone we use.

What do you think?

"Speech has power. Words do not fade. What starts out as a sound, ends in a deed." -Abraham Joshua Herschel

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Fly in the ointment

In old English there is a saying that goes:

"'Tis that dead fly in the ointment of the Apothecary."

We know it more as 'the fly in the ointment', which refers to a small glitch in an otherwise good plan.

Reading through Ecclesiastes 10, we note that this idiom has it's origins in the time of Solomon. I am struck by how ancient wisdom has been carried into our modern era and how we can still understand the concepts of people like Solomon.

"As dead flies give perfume a bad smell,
    so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.
2 The heart of the wise inclines to the right,
    but the heart of the fool to the left.
3 Even as fools walk along the road,
    they lack sense and show everyone how stupid they are." - Ecclesiastes 10:1-3

Some thoughts are timeless.

“It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words, "And this too, shall pass away." - Abraham Lincoln

Living in Grace

D3LM3