The children's great texts of the Bible
Ecclesiastes 10:10
Try A Grindstone
If the iron [axe] be blunt. Ecclesiastes 10:10.
Hate you ever tried to break sticks with a very blunt axe? If you have, you know what a hard job it is. You chop and chop, and better chop; but by the end of five minutes all you have managed to do is to make a dent in the wood, and tire out your arm and your temper. Possibly, too, you may have succeeded in chopping your finger quite successfully, although you have failed to chop your log.
With a newly sharpened axe it is quite another business. The wood seems to fall apart at a touch. Breaking sticks with an axe like that is a real pleasure. And it is the same with other tools. A sharp tool is the only tool worth using.
You have seen a man cutting long grass with a scythe. And you have admired the way he swished through it with his dangerous-looking weapon for it seemed more like a weapon than a tool. But every now and then he stopped, picked up his whetstone, and carefully sharpened the edge of the scythe. That man knew that the secret of good work and easy work was to keep his tool sharp. Why, even a pen-knife is of no use if it is blunt. You have to sharpen it on the sole of your shoe, or else ask father to do it for you on his razor strop. As for blunt scissors! The girls will tell me that if you try to clip with them you'll clip only a jagged tear in your cloth. Yes, there's no doubt about it to use a blunt tool is a sheer waste of time and strength. It tires you thoroughly, and the work itself is badly done. The only way to make a really good job is to have a fine edge on your tools.
Now we don't call ourselves axes or chisels or saws or knives, but we are all tools nevertheless. We are tools with three blades, and if we want to do any good in the world we must keep each blade as keen and bright as a razor. I wonder what are our three blades.
1. Well, our first blade is our body. I think some of you are wondering how you are going to sharpen your body. You can't point yourself like a pencil, can you? And I am not going to advise you to sharpen your tongue, for that is the only thing about you that should not be sharp. No, when we speak of a sharp tool we speak of it as being “in good condition” so what I want you to do is to keep your body in good condition. How can you do that? By sleeping well, eating well (but not too well), and playing well.
God wants us to be well and strong. When Christ was on earth, you remember how He was always making sick people well or hungry people satisfied. He took care of their bodies, and He wants us to take care of ours. People are very sensible about their bodies nowadays. They know just how to treat them, and they are not like the saints and hermits of old who thought they were pleasing God when they tortured and starved their bodies. That is not what God wants; He wants us to be kind to our bodies in the right way, not to pamper them, of course, but to treat them well and wisely.
Boys and girls, you have a splendid chance a better chance than the older people to keep this first blade in good condition, for you haven't lived long enough to get it blunted or spoiled. It is your duty, then, to make it into a really fine tool for your own and God's use.
2. Perhaps you will have guessed the second blade. It is our mind. We must keep that in as fine condition as we do our body. Here again you little people have a splendid chance to turn out a beautiful tool, for you can determine to sharpen your mind all you know how. You have life before you, school before you, college or business also before you, and you can use all these as mind sharpeners. They are magnificent grindstones.
I shall tell you why it is important that you should sharpen your mind. It is because there is not room in the world for blunt minds. Blunt minds are like the old stone axes our forefathers had. They are of no use today. Just say to yourself, “I'm going to do and be the very best I can. I'm going to know all I can, and attempt all I can,” and there's no danger that you won't succeed.
There is one danger, however, and that is the danger of over-sharpening. Don't overdo the sharpening. It is remarkable, but true, that if you sharpen your mind too much it turns blunt. Don't overwork or overtire your brain. You know what it is to try to do a difficult sum at the end of an evening's preparation. The sum simply won't come out, and the more you work at it the more muddled and tired and cross you become. The best way is to put it aside till the morning. You will do it in five minutes before breakfast, and you can get up five minutes earlier so as not to be rushed. You will do it in five minutes because your mind as well as your body has had a night's rest.
3. The third blade we must keep sharp is our spirit. The edge of this blade has a special name; we call it “conscience.” Someone asked a little Indian boy what his conscience was. He thought a minute, and then he put his hand on his heart and said, “It is a little three-cornered thing inside here. When I do wrong it turns round and round, and hurts me very much. If I keep on doing wrong, it will turn until all the edges wear off and then it will not hurt any more”
Keep the little three-cornered edge of conscience sharp, boys and girls. The more it hurts the better. If we let it grow blunt we shall be in a sad case. Let us sharpen it in three ways one for each edge first by listening to it, second by obeying it, and third by praying God to sharpen it for us.