how to "execute" make file

As paxdiablo said make -f pax.mk would execute the pax.mk makefile, if you directly execute it by typing ./pax.mk, then you would get syntax error.

Also you can just type make if your file name is makefile/Makefile.

Suppose you have two files named makefile and Makefile in the same directory then makefile is executed if make alone is given. You can even pass arguments to makefile.

Check out more about makefile at this Tutorial : Basic understanding of Makefile

You don't tend to execute the make file itself, rather you execute make, giving it the make file as an argument:

make -f pax.mk

If your make file is actually one of the standard names (like makefile or Makefile), you don't even need to specify it. It'll be picked up by default (if you have more than one of these standard names in your build directory, you better look up the make man page to see which takes precedence).