“When The Axe Head Falls Off”
2 Kings 6:1-7
Today I would like to look at a text that can help us in our daily walk.
Elisha was with the “sons of the prophets” or if you will Disciples.
Looks like they are in Gilgal according to 2 Kings 4:38 “And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and there was a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him: and he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets.”
1. Work During A Time Of Prosperity
2 Kings 6:1-2 “And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us. 2 Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye.”
Vs. 1 shows us the growth and excitement.
Sons of the prophets - or the disciples of the prophets -
We see a growth in the disciples that are learning the Word of God and His will.
What a joy it must be for Elisha to see dedication and excitement.
The place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us - There seems to be a shortage of room for the growth of disciple and they are asking to expand the rooms.
I would like to say; we ought to be excited when we reach a growth at church where there must be a vision to grow.
Sad that so many churches are closing their doors instead of needing to expand.
I pray we grow to the place where we too need to consider expansion.
Vs 2. Shows us that there are ideas that others see and are excited about.
“Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye.”
Not every project at the church house needs to be initiated by the pastor.
There is plenty to do here and all we need to do is coordinate it with the pastor.
2. The Invitation To Join Them
2 Kings 6:3-4 “And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go. 4 So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood.”
Not a long discussion on these verses but a simple observation.
They would love to have Elisha join them while they work.
And his answer was; “I will go.”
3. The Axe Head Fell Off
We are in the meat of the message today.
I. Busy Working
2 Kings 6:Vs. 5a “But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water:…”
As they were working something alarming happened; “the axe head fell into the water.”
Observations: What caused the axe head to fall off?
We do not know but there are some ideas that may help:
1. The head was not properly placed
2. The head works loose because of a couple reasons:
A. Not sharp causing more force needed to get the job done
B. It was loose and no repairs were made.
II. Busy Wailing
2 Kings 6:5b “…and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed.”
As we consider a lesson from this; I am reminded that when we are working for the Lord we also believe that blessings should flow our way.
No harm should befall us and yet here we see a moment of distress.
Alas – “OH NO!!!!”
How often do we get busy working for the Lord and neglect obvious signs that there could be trouble?
III. Busy Watchful
2 Kings 6:6-7 “And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he shewed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim. 7 Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it.”
Here is our help for today!
Five (5) things that can help us today:
1. He confessed - 2 Kings 6:5b “…and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed.”
2. He was honest when asked a question? Vs.6 “Where fell it?”
“And he shewed him the place.”
One of the hardest places to go back to is where we fall.
Until we go to the place where the axe head fell in, we cannot find help!
Production stopped and there is no going forward.
Carry the axe handle around all you want but no work is getting done.
3. The Man of God was able to help -
Vs. 6b “And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim.”
a. The axe head could not rise by its self.
b. It was the tree (wood) that made the axe rise.
We cannot save ourselves, it will take the work of an old wooden cross to raise the dead to life!
c. There is no power in the axe head, but there is power in the tree.
4. Direction given -
Vs 7a “Therefore said he, Take it up to thee.”
How often do we seek the Lord and we are directed by His Word to simply follow, and yet we are waiting for a miracle when all we need to do is obey?
5. Action taken -
7b “…And he put out his hand, and took it.”
a. He had to lower himself
b. He had to stretch himself out
c. He had to pick it up
Conclusion:
We can learn from this interaction:
Without the Axe Head there will be no work
Without a sharp Axe we can work but it will take a greater effort.
Sometimes we need to repair our tools before we begin the work of the Lord.
Story:
Before there were chainsaws the falling of trees came from men who would work daily with their axes.
A young strapping, husky man was bragging about all that he could accomplish each day and he challenged the oldest man on the team to a contest, to see who would cut the most trees in one day.
The next day they lined up and began to work. The young man worked hard all day and only stopped for a brief time for water and lunch.
While each hour the old man stopped to rest.
At the end of the day the logs where counted and the old man had beaten the young man by several trees.
The young man was furious and said it was impossible and asked the old man what made him so successful?
The old man replied, “I was not stopping to rest, I was stopping to sharpen my axe.”
There are times we can become so busy serving that we forget to stop to sharpen our tools like:
Fellowship
Stewardship
Prayer
Bible Time
Witnessing
Serving
When was the last time you stopped to fix your tools?
Let’s pray
