Once upon a time a very strong woodcutter asked for a job in a timber merchant, and he got it. The pay was really good and so were the work conditions. For those reasons, the woodcutter was determined to do his best.
His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he was supposed to work. The first day, the woodcutter brought back 18 trees.
“Congratulations,” the boss said. “Go on that way!”
Very motivated for the boss’ words, the woodcutter would try harder the next day, but he only could bring 15 trees back. The third day, he tried even harder, but he only could bring 10 trees.
Day after day he was bringing less and less trees.
“I must be losing my strength”, the woodcutter thought. He went to the boss and apologized, saying that he could not understand what was going on.
“When was the last time you sharpened your axe?” the boss asked.
“Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to cut trees.”
Our lives are like that. We sometimes get so busy that we don’t take time to sharpen the axe. The state of our imaan greatly depends on how much we sharpen it food that feeds the soul. If we go on with our lives too busy to feed our soul, it will lose strength and we will not be motivated to perform good deeds. So, take a moment everyday and “sharpen” your soul by listening to the Quran, lectures, remembering Allah, etc.