Sharpen That Pencil

T

here is a little gadget on my desk that I simply love.  It is small, compact, lightweight, and extremely useful.  You probably have one on your desk as well or you know where to find one if you need it.  This handy little tool is an electric pencil sharpener; don't balance your checkbook with out it!!!  The one I use is battery-powered but it really gets the job done.  I've yet to meet the pencil this little machine can't grind to a razor-fine point.

When I insert a new or used pencil into the sharpener, it whirrs to life, eagerly eating away at the wooden pencil until all that is left is the sharp point of the lead.  Through the window, I can see the shavings as they are collected.  These pieces of wood, once surrounding the lead, now lie useless on the bottom of the pencil sharpener, ready to be discarded when the machine is finished.  Although the shavings were originally a part of the pencil, they prevented it from fulfilling its purpose.  They were in the way of the lead, keeping it imprisoned, not allowing it to perform the task it was designed to do.

There is a lot of gospel in that pencil sharpener.  Just think about it!  Our lives are full of things that prevent us from being what God intended us to be.  Money gets in the way, status gets in the way, titles get in the way, even family and friends can become hindrances to our spiritual walk with God.  When we get bogged down by all the different things packed into our lives, we become ineffective in sharing the good news of Jesus Christ and our witness is severely hampered.  We find ourselves imprisoned, trapped, and stifled by all the clutter in our lives.

That's when God steps in.  He knows just what we need.  Like a dull pencil, we need to be sharpened, honed to a razor-fine point so that we will be ready to perform the tasks God has laid out for us.  God takes us in his hand, places us into his sharpener, and grinds away everything preventing us from living a life that is pleasing to him.  He also cuts away areas of our lives so that we will be able to share Jesus with those around us.  Like a pencil with a dull lead, we are unable to effectively communicate all the wonderful things God has done for us and wants to do through us.  However, once sharpened and honed to a fine point, we are ready to give testimony about God's love, mercy, and grace in our lives.

John 15:1-2 addresses this process of being sharpened, of having everything unnecessary removed from our lives so God can use us for His purpose.  This passage reads, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful." Although Jesus speaks in terms of vines and branches, the application of his lesson is the same. 

A dull pencil is of no value until it is sharpened.  In order to sharpen it, everything blocking the lead must be removed by shaving and grinding until a firm point is created.  It is the same in our spiritual lives.  God wants us to produce fruit for Him, to share Jesus with those around us.  In order to accomplish this we must be in perfect spiritual shape.  God will remove anything that keeps us from bearing fruit and from sharing Christ with others.  He does this by grinding, shaving, and cutting away everything in our life that does not serve His purpose.

Today, if you feel like a pencil in a sharpener or vines being pruned, take courage.  These are the obvious signs that God is preparing you for a different area of ministry with greater results.  Although it may not be pleasant, God sees the end results of the difficulties and challenges you are facing now.  Remember, he only prunes those vines that produce fruit and he prunes them so they can produce more.  Vines that are unproductive, he simply throws away.

So, as you sharpen pencils today at work, at school, or wherever you may be, remember today's lesson.  Only in the sharpener, only when we are being shaved, ground, and cut, are we in the place where God can prepare us to do the things he has called us to do.  Only the sharpener can shape us into the form necessary to be used by God.  Get the point?