Sharpen the Saw!

   “Sharpen the Saw."  It is the seventh habit identified by Stephen Covey in his book, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” What does it mean, and how is this concept applicable in our lives? Is there any Biblical correlation? 

   To begin, let me set the stage by telling a parable…

   You and I are going to go out to the woods and compete in a contest to see who can saw down the most trees in one hour. We lace up our boots, put on our best lumberjack outfits, and trek out to the heart of the woods. 

   Now, for the sake of the parable, let us assume that all aspects are equal as we begin the competition. We have the exact same physical strength and stamina, the same sawing technique and tools, even the size of the trees that we will be sawing down will all be exactly the same.
 
   The referee stands in-between us and counts down, “ready…three, two, one…begin!”. As the whistle sounds the clock starts ticking. We have one hour to see who can saw down the most trees. 

   We both start working as fast as we can, and after 20 minutes the referee observes that we have each sawed down five trees.  But stay tuned, as we will soon deviate in our strategies as we move forward. 

   You continue wor ...