Reclaiming Your Passion

Do you ever feel as if you've lost the cutting edge; you're not hitting on all eight cylinders; you're swimming in mud and running in tar; you just can't get it together.

We are going to study today a very interesting story that deals with that very problem. The prophet Elisha had a seminary of which he was obviously the head. He was the president of the school. The school was outgrowing itself, and they were in need of a new dormitory. Because the school had gotten so small, they determined to go out and build bigger and better facilities to hold the students who wanted to attend.

One young man goes out to work, and while he is busily chopping trees his ax head comes loose and flies into the water. He runs and tells Elisha; Elisha cuts down a stick, throws it into the water, and miraculously the ax head swims. He recovers the ax head and the work resumes. Unusual story—but very relevant to where many of you are today.

One of the most helpful things about the Bible, and one of the things that makes the reading of the Bible so relevant to the problems of life that we face today, is we find reflected in many of its stories the experiences of our own lives. That's exactly what you're going to find in this story, because we see here three secrets on what to do when you have "lost the cutting edge” or what I want to call passion. So if you're in this category today, and you've lost the cutting edge, especially in your relationship with God, pay attention.

I. Rekindle Your Heart For Labor (v.1)

“1 Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “See, the place where we dwell under your charge is too small for us.”

This school was not standing still. They were growing, they were increasing in enrollment, they were adding students, they were lengthening their cords and strengthening their stakes; this was a school that was on the move.

Now remember this. Anything that moves causes friction, and anything that doesn't move is dead. In any area of life, growth always causes problems. As your children grow, you've got to buy more clothes, more cars, and more food. As churches grow, there is a need for new buildings, more parking, more land, and more staff. But this was a school that was willing to pay the price, put in the hours, and make whatever sacrifice was necessary to continue to grow.

One of the ways to deal with losing your cutting edge or losing your passion is to stay productive. Everybody wants to be productive.

ILLUS: A psychologist at Stanford University tried to show that we live for productive results, or what you and I might call fruit. This researcher hired a man, a logger. He said, "I will pay you double what you get paid in the logging camp if you will take the blunt end of this ax and just pound this log all day. You'll never have to cut one piece of wood; just take the end that is blunt and hit it as hard as you can just as if you were logging."

Well, this man worked for half a day at double the pay he was normally getting, and he quit. The psychologist asked, "Why did you quit?" The logger said, "Because every time I move an ax I have to see the chips fly. If I don't see the chips fly, it's no fun." I am convinced that there are a lot of people in the church who get no joy out of church; they get no joy out of their Christian life because they are using the wrong end of the ax, and there are no chips flying. They are producing no fruit. They are not being productive for the kingdom of God, and therefore their joy is gone.

This school was prospering. The hand of God was on the school, but when anything prospers, one of two spirits will always take over; either the spirit of satisfaction or the spirit of sacrifice. You see it is easy to say at a certain point: "We're big enough, we don't need to spend any more money, we don't need to build any more buildings, we don't need to conquer any more horizons, we don't need to try to see any farther; we've done all that we need to do.

Now you may say to yourself, "Well, I know they had a passion for what they were doing. After all they were in a seminary learning about God." Listen carefully. Every Christian works for God. Whether you work at a seminary or a steakhouse, you serve God, and you ought to serve God with joy. You see, serving God is totally different from serving anyone else. The Bible says, "Serve the Lord with gladness?" (Ps. 100:2)

Now why should we serve the Lord with gladness? I'll tell you why. In Acts 17:25 (ESV) we read, "[God is not] served by human hands as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything."

We serve God with gladness because we do not bear the burden of meeting His needs; we rejoice in a service where He meets our needs. That is why we ought to have a passion for labor. It will help you keep your cutting edge.

Transition: The second secret in the passage teaches us to. . .

II. Realize Your Purpose In Life (v.2)

“Let us go to the Jordan and each of us get there a log, and let us make a place for us to dwell there.” And he answered, “Go.””

Now they wanted to make sure that their plan was from the Lord and of the Lord. You see, Elisha, the man of God, was representative of God Himself. They were speaking to God's prophet trying to get God's approval for what they were doing, because they understood something you and I need to understand. God not only wants his work done in His might, He wants it done with His method. We're not only to do what God wants; we're to do it the way God wants it done.

The word of God contains some tremendous promises as to what He will do for us if we seek His plans and not our own. First of all, He has promised His counsel. Prov. 19:21 says, "There are many plans in a man's heart, nevertheless the Lord's counsel—that will stand."

But when you seek the plan of God you will also get God's control. "Commit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established." (Prov. 16:3) Now notice the difference between works and plans. If you will commit what you are going to do for God, God will establish the way to do it.

Finally, you will get God's confirmation. Prov. 21:31 says, "The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but deliverance is of the Lord." We can plan, we can scheme, we can organize and agonize, but victory in any venture rests with the Lord.

2 Kings 6:3 “Then one of them said, “Be pleased to go with your servants.” And he answered, “I will go.””

Notice they not only wanted his plan, but they also wanted his presence. They wanted God to be a part of what they were doing. You see we have not been put here just to work for God; we've been put here to work with God. As we work for God, God works with us, and when we work through God, God works in us. That is the way God's work is to be done.

I firmly believe if Elisha had said to them, "I will not go," they would have stayed behind. They were saying to Elisa, "We will work for you, but we will not work without you." You see, what mattered to these young men is what ought to matter to us, and that is the presence of God in all that we do.

That leads to a great lesson. You ought to be able to take God with you everywhere you go, or you shouldn't go. You should say to Him, "Lord, will you go with your servant?" If He says, "I will." You go. If He says, "I won't." You don't.

2 Kings 6:4 “So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees.”

Now follow the progression. God's work is to be done with God's presence. It is to be done according to God's plan, but it must be done through God's people. God has no hands but our hands; no feet but our feet; and whenever anything is done for the glory of God, God's people are at work.

I want you to remember this in everything you do for God. You cannot do God's work without Him, but He will not do His work without you. God's work takes all of us. It takes us corporately, but it also takes us individually.

To build a great Sunday School, we need teachers, but not all can teach. To build a great choir, we need singers, but not all can sing. But some can teach, some can sing, some can usher, and some can serve. Nobody can do everything, but everybody can do something, and what you can do, you ought to do, and what you ought to do by the grace of God, you should do. That's the way it works. We do our part, He does His part; He gets the glory, we get the blessing. That is your purpose in life. Find out what God wants you to do, then do it with all of your might, knowing that He does it through you for His glory. When you do that, you will find the cutting edge.

Transition: Here is the final secret in the text . . .

III. Recover Your Power From The Lord (v.5)

“But as one was felling a log, his axe head fell into the water, and he cried out, “Alas, my master! It was borrowed.””

Now notice this man lost his ax head while he was working. He wasn't lazy, he wasn't sleeping, he wasn't dozing off; he was working hard. As a matter of fact, he had to be chopping very hard for that ax head to fly off into the river. This man did have a mind to work. He was busy for God. He didn't lose his power by lying down; he lost it standing up. But that was a part of the problem.

This man was diligent in his work, but he was negligent in his watch. This man had gotten so busy chopping the tree that he had neglected to check the ax. You know you can get so busy doing things for God that you neglect to spend time with God. When you do that, mark it down, you're going to lose the cutting edge. You’re gonna lose the passion. Eccl. 10:10 says,

Ecclesiastes 10:10 ESV

10 If the iron is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge, he must use more strength, but wisdom helps one to succeed.

ILLUS: In the last two months I have talked to two pastors who both had moral failures in their life. They had to leave the ministry. They lost their dignity, their integrity, and almost lost their family. I asked both of them one question: "When this happened, were you spending time in the word of God, and spending time with the Lord?" to which they both replied, "No." It is a fact that more spiritual breakdown can be traced to a neglected devotional life than to any other cause.

Notice something else about this ax head, however. It was a borrowed ax head. This man did not have an ax head of his own or he would not have borrowed one. Do you know why the story specifically tell us it was a borrowed ax head? That ax head represents the power of God. You see we do God's work on borrowed power.

If you ever use anything that belongs to somebody else, you either borrowed it or you stole it. Now there are some things you can steal from God. As you well know, the Bible says you can steal God's tithe. It is possible to do that.

But there is one thing you cannot steal from God; you cannot buy from God. It is something you can only borrow from God, and that is the power of God. The same God that loaned you power is the same God that can call for it any time He pleases.

Everything that you have is on loan from God. You have the title deed to nothing. Your talent, your time, your treasure, all of it, God has loaned to you, and God can call it any time He wants to.

But that raises the question. If you've lost the cutting edge, if you have lost your passion, how do you get it back? "Then the man of God said, ‘Where did it fall?' When he showed him the place." (v.6a)

Don’t miss that. If you've lost the cutting edge, you've got to go back to where you lost it. The place of recovery is always the place of departure.

ILLUS: Have you ever lost your wallet or your car keys, and you let someone know that you've lost them? What is the first question they will ask you "Where did you lose it?" Now I know we sometimes think that is a dumb question, but you know it really is the right question. Because you always find something exactly where you lost it.

Wherever you lose something is where you will find it, and if you've lost that cutting edge with God, you ought to ask yourself some questions:

- Did you lose your power with God and your cutting edge in the fast-flowing river of worldliness? If you have, when you get out of the world, God will get back into you.

- Did you lose your power with God and your cutting edge in the current of "self?" When you put self last and God and others first you'll recover that cutting edge.

- Did you lose your power with God and the cutting edge in the mud of impurity and iniquity? Well when you repent of your sin and determine to get right with God, you'll regain that cutting edge.

Go back and ask yourself some questions. Have you neglected the word of God? Have you neglected talking with God? Is there a sin unconfessed and unforsaken, and therefore unforgiven that is blocking your way to God? If any of these things are true, you know exactly where to find the cutting edge.

"…So he cut off a stick, and threw it in there; and he made the iron float. Therefore he said, ‘Pick it up for yourself.' So he reached out his hand and took it." (v.6b-7)

Now I don't know all that that means, but I do know this. Number one: It happened exactly the way the Bible says it happened. I also believe that the stick is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know the Bible calls Jesus "the righteous branch." It calls him "the branch of David." I believe when Elisha cut off that stick and threw it into the river, it gave life to that ax head, and the ax head swam. When Jesus Christ was crucified and cast into the river of death, He gave us life so that we, too, might conquer the river of death and live forever more with him.

But notice what happened to this young man. When he found the lost ax head, he took it for himself and put it back on the ax. When you confess your sin to God, when you confess you are powerless without Him, and when you cry out for your need for Him, and then by faith claim again the power of His Holy Spirit, you will get back the cutting edge.

But look carefully at what he did with it. When he took that ax head, do you know what he did with it? He put it back on the handle and went back to work. God's work cannot be done without God's power. But God's power is given to do God's work. God's power is not for show. God's power is for service. God is not looking for show horses; God is looking for workhorses. You will never have power from God until you are committed to doing the work of God.

But when you rekindle your passion for labor, and when you realize your purpose in life, and when you recover your power from the Lord, you will find, without even realizing it, you have regained the cutting edge.