It was not a very happy surprise. A woodchopper cannot do much if he suddenly finds that he has put all his energy into a mighty swing, and the iron axe head has suddenly flown off into the air all by itself. He is left holding only the handle. That is not a happy surprise!
Here is how it happened. There was a group of young men, sons of the prophets, living together in the land of Israel. They decided that their living quarters were too small, so they must find a good location and build a new place.
They found the right spot by the Jordan River, and they had a supply of axes for the job. But there was one more thing to think about. Did they want Elisha to go with them? Elisha was a man of God.
When you make a plan like that, do you want a man of God to go with you? It might be hard today to find a man of God available to go with you, not to bless the job when you are done, but to be there for your every move and conversation. But you can take a Bible with you and read it daily. And you can pray about each little problem as it comes up and be thankful for all that Jesus has done for you. Is that the way you face your projects? God is willing. Are you?
The men asked Elisha to go with them, and he said, “Yes.” So they set to work. One man had no axe, so he borrowed one and helped with the work as they began to cut down trees for the log building. The axes were swinging and the chips flying. Suddenly one worker held only the wooden handle! His axe head had flown off and landed with a splash in the river!
Now this workman had a problem, but he knew exactly where to turn.
When you face a problem, do you know where to turn? Don’t say bad words. Don’t show impatience or anger. Tell God about it. He is right there, and He has the answer. He cares about your problem, because He loves you.
Elisha was right there, and the workman cried out, “Alas, master! for it was borrowed!” This doubled the problem. How could he return a borrowed axe if the axe head was lost?
I wonder if you know that your life does not belong to you. It belongs to God who gave you a beating heart before you were born. And the problem of your borrowed life is doubled if you are a lost sinner. But we are here to tell you that God has the answer, because He loves you and sent His Son to die for you.
“Where did the axe head fall?” asked Elisha.
The workman showed him the place, but the problem was still there. The iron axe head was still at the bottom of the river. Prayer would not bring it up. Iron is heavier than water, and there it lay, out of sight, in the mud at the bottom of the Jordan River. Elisha could not raise it.
I wonder if you know that God Himself cannot save you without the death of His only begotten Son. Maybe you cry about your sins every day, but God cannot save you without the precious blood of Christ to wash away your sins. The lost remains lost, including the ax head.
Then Elisha cut down a stick and threw it into the water. The water had no power over the stick because it was not heavy, so it did not sink.
When that stick hit the water, behold a miracle! The axe head swam! It was the very same old axe head that was lost, and yet it had a new power. It did not float; it swam! There was God-given power now, which was above the power of gravity to make it sink.
Do you want this God-given power? Only God can give it to you. The same boy or girl who was lost can now be given victory over sin and death by the power of God. And this power must be used if you want to live for Jesus. He is an all-the-way-home Saviour. Will you trust Him now?
Elisha told the workman to pick up the axe head out of the water, and the workman reached out his hand and picked up the axe head! And that is where we leave the story. We are not told any more about that axe head, perhaps because God wants you to finish the story yourself.
What will you do with the new life God has given you? Will you use it for Him, with the wonderful new power that He gives? It is wonderful beyond words to know that we belong to Him now and that someday He will change our bodies into new and glorified bodies where death has no power at all.
You may read this story for yourself in 2 Kings 6:1-71And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us. 2Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye. 3And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go. 4So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood. 5But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed. 6And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he showed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim. 7Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it. (2 Kings 6:1‑7).
ML-11/13/2016