As I write this I am less than a week away from Christmas. In the next week I will lead three worship services, four Christmas services, have one last dress rehearsal, Celebrate Christmas with my family, and finally have a few days to catch my breath. As you sit here reading this you may or may not be in a busy season of life. Regardless of your schedule and your stress level there is a ministry principle that is imperative to learn and live out in your daily life. I refer to this principle as the "Axe Principle".

We recently had a guest pastor come to one of our staff meetings to speak to our team about this very principle. It has challenged me and caused me to re-examine everything I do not only in ministry but in life.

The principle is not some new self help technique but rather is found in Ecclesiastes 10:10 "Using a dull axe requires great strength, so sharpen the blade. That's the value of wisdom; it helps you succeed."

Picture for a moment two lumberjacks. Now let's imagine that these two lumberjacks were having a contest to see how many trees they each could cut down in one day. Instead of using a chainsaw our two lumberjacks are using identical axe's. Lumberjack A begins cutting trees down as fast as he can. Without any preparation he starts going all out swinging his axe. At the end of one hour lumber jack A has a huge lead on Lumberjack B. Lumberjack B spent almost his entire first hour sharpening his axe. By the end of the day even though lumberjack A had a huge lead, he has cut down almost half of what lumberjack B has cut down. I know this is starting to sound like one your fifth grade word problems but stick with me.

Why is it that lumberjack A worked longer and just as hard as Lumberjack B but cut down so much less? The answer is that lumberjack B took time several times during the competition to stop and sharpen his Axe. Lumberjack A may have swung the Axe harder and longer than Lumberjack B, but he did not have the much needed preparation time that was required to do the job.

Can I ask you a personal question? How are you daily preparing for ministry? Even more importantly, how are you preparing for life? I'm no lumberjack but I do know that I had better sharpen my axe if I am going to be doing some tree cutting or wood chopping. Yet everyday many of us do not take time out of our schedules to prepare our hearts for the job we are doing. We are busy trying to make everyone else get right with God yet he has become a stranger to us. It is necessary to be passionate about others and their spiritual needs, but it is a tragedy if we lose sight of our own walks. Can I get dangerously personal? You might be the best worship leader or pastor in the world but if you fail with your family, you fail period. Our families must be prioritized over our ministries. And our preparation for ministry begins by allowing ourselves to be sharpened.

Let me give you a short list of things that you can utilize in order to be sharpened.

• Obviously time in the word of God is vital. (Do a word search sometime in your favorite Bible software and type in "Word Of God" and see the benefits of being in the word, the consequences of not being in it, and the characteristics of the very words God speaks.) As worship leaders we are supposed to be seeking out the voice of God, how can we hear him if we are not listening to him through the Living Word of God? I cannot stress this enough. Take time out of your daily schedule to spend in the Word and I promise you that you will hear from Him. This is not an option, it is mandatory!

• Personal Worship Times: I am saddened to say that when ministry gets busy this is one of the first areas that I let slip away. If you lead from an instrument as I do practice is always needed. It is part of my schedule. Am I playing the songs only for practice or am I worshiping? Here is the point. In order for me to lead people into the presence of God I must know how to get there. When we lead people into worship we are in sense are saying "Follow me into the presence of God." How can we lead people somewhere we have not been? You may be the best guitarist or pianist in the world but if you do not know how to usher in the presence of God, you my friend have failed as a leader. Do not take this as a scorning but take it as an encouraging word. Get alone in the word and sing and play. If you are able to usher in His presence in the quietness of your office, you will be able to successfully usher in the presence of God with those in your services. The presence of God does not just appear, it is ushered in by those who know how to get there.

• Accountability: Proverbs 27:17 (NIV) "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." Let me add this; if you are not honest in your relationships you will never be sharpened in areas that need addressed.

• Read books even if you hate to read. Books can be a great teaching tool.

• Fast regularly for your ministry team, congregation, family etc.

• Take time to pray even when your task list seems endless. The other day I had a task list up on my computer screen that seemed I would never get through. It was also a Friday which meant I was trying to tie up all the loose ends as well as put all the final touches on our media & video. Over the office intercom system came the announcement that we were going to pull together and spend some time praying for the weekend services. My first thought was not one of righteousness. I think it was something like "I do not have time for this today..." As we sat down to pray I tried to calm myself by saying "this won't take that long." We then proceeded to have each one of us pray. (All 10 of us) I was getting more and more agitated and I knew my attitude was wrong. My turn was only two people away when I knew I needed to confess quickly. My attitude closely resembles the attitude of Martha found in Luke 10:38-42 Check it out: 40 But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, "Lord, doesn't it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me." 41 But the Lord said to her, "My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! 42 There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her."

Ouch!! That stings a little huh? It is too easy for us to be like Martha and become overly distracted by the melodious meal we are working on for our services. We get worried and upset about all the details and forget about the one we are doing it for. Isn't it for Jesus? Yeah, but spending time with Jesus is more important than all other details of life and ministry. Spending time with him is what will ultimately allow you and I to be able to deliver the meal on Sunday. So go ahead and sharpen your Axe.

Copyright Jeff Ream - All rights reserved