Today’s devotion revealed the importance of the power of the Holy Spirit. We may be busy but not effective because all our work is done in the flesh and not in the power of God.

Bible Reading Day 133
AM – 2 Kings 6-8
PM – John 4:31-54

Title: Busy but not Effective
2 Kings 6:5-6
But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed. 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.

Chapter six of 2 Kings opens us with a problem. The school of prophets was growing, and their place became too crowded, so they needed to enlarge their facilities. Instead of hiring a contractor, they did the work themselves. They made themselves available and involved themselves in this great project. Likewise, in the church, every member is expected to be involved in the ministry.

One of the young prophets, while he was busy, accidentally dropped the axe head into the water while he was working. He was distressed about the loss and appeared helpless to finish the task. Well, it should bother us too when our work for God is hindered. The first thing he did was to seek advice from Elisha. This is the first qualification for any Christian worker: to be properly related to spiritual leadership.

Remember, the axe head pictures the power of the Holy Spirit. He did not lose the handle nor his knowledge of how to cut wood, but he lost his cutting edge. The axe handle was useless without the axe head (Zechariah 4:6: Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.) The work of God cannot be done in the power of the flesh. We don’t have the power ourselves (2 Corinthians 4:7). The axe was borrowed. Everything we have is “borrowed” (But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.) We are stewards. The power needed is not our power.

The axe head was lost while he was engaged in the work. Sometimes we get so engaged in the busyness of the work that we lose focus on the One we are working for and inevitably lose the power. The axe head gradually slipped off the handle. He lost it gradually. Someone has said that backsliding is like a “slow leak” in a tire – it is never a “blow-out.”

Have you sprung a “slow leak?” Is your zeal for the ministry slowly going flat? The power of God can be restored at the place it was lost. The place of the loss is the place of recovery. It is no use seeking power in longer prayers or reading more Scripture if the power was lost through sin and carnal living.

Pray… Confess… and by faith be filled with the Spirit. Praise God! You can get that cutting edge back if you’ve lost it. No one has sunk so deep that God cannot raise him again to the surface and use him again “cutting wood.”