Pencil Sharpener

I was going through a box of old craft supplies and I found a good pencil sharpener among a bunch of stuff that I no longer needed. I use a pencil out in the shop and the sharpener I use out there has had most of the plastic broken off and barely works as it is. The one I found is in excellent condition so I considered myself fortunate to have found such a treasure.

Perhaps I need to pause here and explain what a pencil is and how a pencil sharpener works. A pencil is a wooden stick with lead core, (that was actually made of graphite). If sharpened it leaves a mark when pressed against paper or other objects, such as wood. (People used to write with them before iPads). Using pencils taught me many things.

A teacher once told me, “The shortest pencil is better than the longest memory.” What he meant is that if you write things down you will always have them to remember. I like clever sayings like that because they help you remember important truths. People have been writing things down as long as there has been language.

Like us, the pencil worked best if it was sharp and had a point. The writing end had to be kept sharp with a sharpener to expose the lead. The pencil sharpener had a cone shaped hole and a razor sharp blade and when you put the pencil in and twisted it the wood would be shaved off to a perfect point for all your writing needs.

The other end had a rubber eraser so you could correct your mistakes. The eraser made pencils essential for some tasks such as math, drawing, and for many people, spelling. You had a choice. You could confidently pick up a pen and assume you would make no mistakes. Or, you could use a pencil and correct your mistakes as you go. This always made me wish life was more like the pencil. If only we could erase our mistakes and start over!

Since I use my pencil in the shop another saying I live by is, “measure twice and cut once.” This means we need to think about our decisions before we act on them. Life is not completely like the pencil. Our sins are recorded in a book and when we accept Jesus as our savior they are forgiven, blotted out, and forgotten. Jesus heals us and helps us but we still have to live with the consequences of sin. We do not get to go back and do it over. We have to move forward from here and try again.

Jeremiah 31:33 promises, “…I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people.” (ESV) I am glad God does not do that with a pencil.

Robin