“Alas, my master! For it was borrowed!” he exclaimed. I have been reminded by a very close acquaintance that lenders never forget their borrowers. The lender may seem as though they don’t mind about the loan you took or anything material you borrowed or the time when they lent you their time for time itself is a currency, but the solid honest truth is that the longer the borrower takes to pay up or make good the more to memory they are committed into the lenders mind. The opening statement was one made by a Carpenter. Allow me put some context here to unpack the detail of the vocation of carpentry. Clear observation up close I have noticed with a keen eye three things that define the vocation. For sure I cannot claim to be one or know the craft I am sharing what I have only observed from a distance.
- A carpenter is only as good as his tools.
- Make an order to a carpenter and the delivery date and time becomes borrowed time.
- Wood and a carpenter are like an ear and an earring. They are connected. Without wood a carpenter has no vocation. Without an ear the earing has no place.
As I earlier mentioned these are only but a lay man’s observations about the vocation. This particular carpenter had borrowed an axe. A complete axe. The head and its handle. Without the handle the axe can’t execute to deliver its purpose. Without the axe head all you have is a stick that can only be as good as wood for the fire to cook a meal or coffee! The axe head is the treasured part of the axe. A borrowed axe he had in his hand and swung away. While chopping wood for his raw material to put his craft to commit to delivering on his duty as a bread winner, the axe head fell into the river-2Kings 6:1-7. Lo and behold the wail of a man who knew he was done for and in trouble was so authentic. “Alas, my master! For it was borrowed!” he exclaimed. Being indebted is not a good place to be. I know of lenders that when a borrower fails to settle their dues, the next thing we know is court bailiffs show up to seize more than was borrowed. We have no detail whether the axe borrower had committed collateral but I know this for a fact that he was worried.
How did he resolve the matter? He made a very conscious choice, chance and cherish and turned to God for help through God’s representative, Prophet Elisha. Finding the axe head made of iron in a river is next to impossible. It’s a known fact that Iron sinks immediately it is put in water. Elisha asked the carpenter a direct question. “Where did it fall?” The carpenter showed him. Elisha cut a stick and threw it into the water and made the axe head float. A miracle! Relief, burdens broken, stress lifted and peace walked into the carpenter’s heart I can almost fathom that it was instantaneously when he saw the borrowed axe head floating.
In today’s complexities and daily struggles, many of us are treading on borrowed favors, borrowed time, borrowed commodities the list is endless. When a phone call of a lender comes in even if it is not to follow up on the borrowed item, the borrower will hesitate to pick the call. In our choices, chances and cherishes who do we turn to? I guarantee you God’s giving us a relief. Scripture tells me that his blessings make us rich and addeth no sorrow- Proverbs 10:22. No loan, no borrowed security. All we have to do is surrender free of charge to him and we are assured of his unfailing love. Jesus Christ gave us a blank cheque and open invitation for Relief, Stress free, light weighted unfailing and insurmountable love. “Come to me you who are heavy laden and I will give you rest. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” he said in Mathew 11:20-28. As we part, Elisha told the Carpenter; “Take it up for yourself.” So, he put out his hand and took it. The key lesson here is your relief has to be seized by yourself. Elisha could have drawn the axe head for the Carpenter, but he did not. Instead, he asked the Carpenter to do the onus. Your salvation has to be personally drawn out, reached out for and seized. It’s a very deliberate personal call and cannot be transferred or delegated. Come on board and take the open invitation.
