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And, even if we’re fortunate enough to have an ax head still on the handle, it’s gotten so dull we are barely making an impact. Which brings to mind the story of Bob, who challenged his friend Bill to an all-day wood chopping contest. Bob worked extremely hard, stopping only for a brief lunch. Bill enjoyed a leisurely lunch, stopping for even more breaks during the day.At the end of the day, Bob was frustrated to find that Bill had chopped substantially more wood than him. “I don’t get it,” he said. “Every time I checked, you were taking a rest, yet you chopped more wood than I did.” “But you didn’t notice,” said the winner, “that I was sharpening my ax when I sat down to rest.” Implementation of spiritual disciplines, such as solitude, prayer, fasting, and meditation on Scripture provide vital ways to engage in “rest’ and sharpen our axes. To conclude, recall that Elisha “cut a stick” and threw it into the spot where the ax head disappeared, just like Moses threw a stick into the bitter water at Marah to make it sweet (Exodus 15:25). Continuing on our path of symbolism, it’s worth noting that the term branch is used several times in the Bible as a title for the Messiah. For example, “In that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the adornment of the survivors of Israel” (Isaiah 4:2). Other occurrences include Isaiah 11:1, Jeremiah 23:5 and 33:15, and Zechariah 3:8. As you can see, Jesus is very prominent in the Old Testament, as well as the New. Once the branch was thrown into the water, the iron head floated. Jesus, the Branch, does for us what we could never do for ourselves. Just like the ax head could have never recovered itself, we can never save ourselves. Although moved by a mother’s plea for her son’s pardon, Na poleon reminded her it was his second offense; and justice demand ed death. “I do not ask for justice,” begged the mother, “I plead for

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