Monthly Archives: July 2016

Posted on

Immediate Returns on This Investment!

keep a sharp saw

Wow! What you are seeing is a cloud, a shower, a “big ole pile” of wood shavings coming from this chainsaw.  That is a sign that this guy is using a sharp saw.  I asked him how he can cut so much wood so fast.  His reply……. ” I use a sharp saw”.

Reminds me of a couple of stories I heard a long time ago.   A  strong, muscular, ripped  young guy challenged this old dried up man to a wood cutting contest.  He bet he could cut more wood in 3 hours than the old timer.  They both started cutting.  (They were both  using an axe, this was back in the day.)  The young fellow notice the old guy stopping and resting several times.  Laughing to himself, the young guy using his strong muscles knew this bet was going to be a piece of cake.  When the time was up, all the wood was stacked and to the young guys amazement, the old man had cut more wood.  “How can this be?” he yelled.  I saw you stop and rest many times while I continued to cut away.  The old man’s reply?  “I wasn’t resting, I was sharpening my axe”.

If the ax is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed, but skill will bring success.  Ecclesiastes 10:10

The other story is about someone who was cutting wood with his chainsaw. A friend saw that there wasn’t a cloud of shavings coming out of saw as he cut.  He was cutting, but only dust was appearing as he “worked his tail off”.  The friend suggested to him that he needed to sharpen his saw.  The reply?   ……….. “I don’t have time to stop and sharpen the saw, I’ve got too much work to do to stop and take time for that”.

So, you want an immediate return on your investment?  Then sharpen your saw.  We all face “dull saw moments”.   I know I should stretch before I work out, but I’ve only got time for workout.  I know I should eat better, but I don’t have time except for fast food.  I know I should have quiet time, read the Bible, pray, but…… there are only so many hours in a day.

I KNOW I SHOULD  ….. fill in the blank here, BUT I   …..fill in the blank here. 

Most of the TIME, the reason we can’t find the TIME to “sharpen our saw” is because we feel we are wasting our TIME.  My TIME is important to me!!  I’ve only got a certain amount of TIME!!!

We laugh when we see a guy whittlin’ away with a dull knife.  Sure, he’s busy and working hard, but he’s using his time to kill himself by working so hard.

What’s not so funny is when you realize that You are the guy with the dull blade.  You value your time so much that you won’t take the time to sharpen your axe, your knife, your saw,………… your life.  Not laughing about that now are ya?

That immediate return on your investment??????  Well here it is.  “Sharpen your saw”.  In the business and job world take the time to organize, delegate, plan and pursue.  By taking time out of your busy schedule to create a better use of this time (sharpening) you will increase your returns.  (Makes sense now that the old man was stopping a lot while cutting with his axe, doesn’t it)

So, how does one “sharpen his saw” spiritually?  You mean you don’t know?  (You must be living using a dull blade, which in turn means you are killing yourself by working so hard.  Trying to do it alone aren’t you.  Let me suggest this.

Here is how to “sharpen your saw” spiritually.  1) By taking time.  Yep, friend here is where the investment pays off.  Take the time to be with God.  This Christian walk is not meant to be walked alone, but with Him.  But we feel that time is wasted by trying to “sharpen our spiritual saw”.  Our time is valuable.  So valuable that we need to focus on God.  Focus on praying, reading His word, timeout for quiet time with Him.

  Jesus is the ultimate “saw sharpener”.  His ways will focus us to make better use of our time.  This will produce immediate returns on the investment you have made with Him.   Allowing a spiritual “saw sharpening” will produce a “big ole pile” of shavings as you cut through this life.  In other words, blessings and joy will flow as you go through this life.  Even when cutting through the “hard” times.  That investment (Your Life), will be in good hands following Him.  I’m all in.  What about you?

“Sharpen your saw” spiritually.  It will achieve a better return on your investment, (your life).  You want to make a bet on it?

See Ya!  Dan Ainsworth wilderness preacher, part time “saw sharpener”

Posted on

Have You Taken a Road Less Traveled?

Road Less Traveled

My order is ready, at a town two hours away.  I make the decision to go get it myself.  The best decision I make today…….. is to travel on the road less taken.  The back roads, the dirt roads,……. away from the hustle and bustle.  I met someone who I haven’t talked with in a long while,…..  Myself.

It would have been so easy to hit the four lane, the expressway, and follow the crowd.  I’m sure I could have made the trip in under two hours, (instead of the three and a half).  There was the possibility of sending someone else to get it for me.  Matter of fact, why didn’t I just have it shipped to my home address.  Nope, I’m going to make this decision.  This trip will become part of my journey on Earth today.  And like the poem says, taking the less traveled road has made all the difference.

Here are some of the things that happened to me.  My radio hasn’t been that loud since,….. well, I didn’t know it would play that loud.  With the windows rolled down, (who needs air conditioning), I had the music blasting.  Country songs, a couple of praise songs, and then… Tom Petty’s “Runnin’ down a Dream”.  Yep, it’s sing along, karaoke time.

Stopped at a country store, got a Root Beer.  Thought about, well, for a while there I thought about nothing.  Until an old rock and roll song came on…… highway to the Danger Zone!

It dawned on me that my phone hadn’t rang in a while.  I check it.  Sure enough, there is no service here!  I would later realize that I’m surviving without my phone.  What is amazing to me is that in this modern world how we have become slaves to our phones.  They are mobile devices which means that we must let them follow us everywhere.  Then we religiously check them to see if any messages have come in, to see if facebook has done anything that I need to know that very instant.  I do the unthinkable…… I cut mine off.

That’s when I saw this kid on a bicycle.  He must have been about 12 years old.  As I’m driving past a large graveled driveway, I see him.  There is a mud hole about the size of my truck in this driveway.  I see him.  “Don’t do it” I yelled.  I actually did yell out loud.  (I’m the guy in movie theaters that yells “don’t go in there” to the screen during a scary movie).  As I’m yelling, the kid plows his bike into that big ole mud hole.  It probably wasn’t but a few inches deep.  But his reaction was priceless.  In his mind, he must have jumped the Grand Canyon, or won the Olympic gold, because he raised his hands up in the air in victory.  I laughed from the bottom of my heart.  I just witnessed the glorious victory of a twelve year old kid on his bike winning some gigantious event!!!!!!  And now I’m jealous.

I miss those days when I used to ride my bike through the mud holes.  The days of stopping at a country store for a snack and drink.  I miss those times, especially now in this world we face and live in.  But wait a minute.  It’s my decision.  I can choose how I live in this crazy world.  I can follow the crowd on the interstate, or literally and spiritually, I can take the back road.

(Jesus said), “But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to LIFE, and only a few find it. Matthew 7:14

That scripture sounds like a “country dirt road” to me, doesn’t it to you?  I mean spiritually we can follow the “interstate” and let life pass us by, or we can make the deliberate decision to take the narrow road.  Follow Christ’s teachings.  Live the Christian way of life.  It’s a narrow road, but it makes me come alive.

As I make my way back home from this trip, it dawns on me.  There is a HUGE mud hole about 5 miles from my home!  I’m not twelve years old anymore, but a part of me has and will never grow older than that.  I don’t have a bicycle, but I do have a Toyota Tundra pick up.  It going to be a thrill to hit that mud and plow right through.  I can taste the victory now.  There’s room in my truck for all of you to join in.  Better yet, get in line.  Join me!  We’ll make a convoy!  A blasting radio is a must!

Safe travels on your journeys.  My prayer is that you spiritually take and follow the narrow (back country) road.

See Ya!  Dan Ainsworth wilderness preacher, part time stunt driver!!

 

 

Posted on

A Heat Advisory Issued For Your Spiritual Journey

heat advisory

The more I work, the more I get done, right?  You can’t afford to slow down no matter the conditions, I mean time’s a wastin’.

Here in Mississippi the last few days, the heat index has been around 104!  Inside the log barn where I continue building my log home, the temp is more like 110 bacon sizzling degrees.  IT’S HOT!!  It’s so hot, my dog was chasing a rabbit and they both were walking.  It’s so hot the trees down here are looking for shade.

It’s so hot……… My neighbor’s horse got into my corn field.  It was so hot, the corn started popping.  The horse thought it was snow and froze to death. 😉

OK, you get the picture.  It’s hot.  Yet, still I feel that I must continue working at a pace that I must admit is harmful. In these conditions heat exhaustion, even heat stroke can become a major problem.  Why do I kill myself?  We have to realize in certain conditions that maybe we need to slow down, take a break,….. cool off.

In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.  Psalm 4:8

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27

Don’t ya think we get caught up in our spiritual journeys with doing instead of being?  We think that the more “good stuff” we do, the better person we are, (and the more God will like us and bless us).  😉  In spite of the conditions around us we spiritually work ourselves into a type of “heat exhaustion”.  It’s so easy for us to want to do things ourselves, our own way, in spite of how “hot” it is.  Well, as a Christian the peace that is inside of us comes from God, not from how much we do for ourselves.  And to top it all, He gives you and me this peace freely and abundantly.

What I’m trying to say is that doing “good stuff” is good.  What’s better than good?  Jesus………  He came to seek and save……..  He wants to share His peace and love.

Grow your relationship with Him.  How?  By taking the warning of a “heat advisory for your spirit” seriously.  Refresh yourself by praying with Him.  Seek a “cooling off” by reading the Bible.  Learn to pace yourself in this “hot and dried up world” by following His Will.

This world and even those around you may be hotter than a billy goat in a pepper patch.  They may be hotter than a firecracker lit at both ends.

You my friend will be cool.  Cool as a cucumber.  Joe Cool.  Better yet, Jesus Cool!!!

See Ya!!  Dan Ainsworth wilderness preacher,  writing this while drinking Lemonade!