"No Oxen, No Problem"

Proverbs 14:4 “where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.”
This has been a verse that has intrigued me for a long time. It is hard to grasp the meaning at first especially in our industrialized culture where machines do all the work for us. The statement basically says no oxen, no mess. No oxen, no problems. However in that culture it meant far more. No oxen, no food. No oxen, no income. Oxen were used to till the land and prepare crops to eat as well as to sell. Yes, you have a very clean barn but you look like you haven’t eaten in a while. I think this verse is forcing us to ask ourselves a question. What is more important - a clean barn or abundant crops? We have to make a choice because we can’t have both. Maybe another way of saying it might be...

Would you rather have a

Problem free life or a productive life
Easy life or effective life
Safe life or a surrendered life
Fun life or a fulfilled life
Self serving life or serving others life
Loving self life or loving others life

Yes we can live our lives with clean mangers and no oxen. It is a nice, safe, easy, self-serving kind of life with few problems, but it is also a barren life. Something is missing. That something is loving others. Loving others means getting involved, serving others, using the gifts God has given us to touch the lives of other people. Yes, getting involved with people can get messy. It would be far easier just to back off and admire the clean mangers, (avoid all the problems) but that is not the life God calls his people to live. To serve, to roll up our sleeves and get involved in witnessing, helping, using our gifts is going to cost us something. It is going to mean we have to clean out the stalls when we’re done. It means we are going to get hurt sometimes and be frustrated, but it also means we are going to have the joy of seeing abundant crops as God works through us to touch others. When our lives become more and more self-centered, the goal becomes simply to avoid problems and therefore avoid people. “Don’t get involved”, “let someone else do it” is the motto most in our society adhere to but sadly it is even being embraced in churches across North America. Many people take their talent or gift and bury it and then bring it to the Savior to show him how clean it is and wonder why he is not impressed. They were not willing to work, to take risks, to care, they just wanted life to be easy, fun and above all to be safe. How about you? Have you let the oxen go and made your life’s work to just keep the manger clean. I”m not getting involved anymore. When it is all said and done a clean manger means an empty life. So buy some oxen, role up your sleeves and say “Lord, what do you want to do with me?” Abundant crops come by way of the ox. When we learn this we will stop complaining about the mess they make, and start being thankful for opportunities God gives us to show His love to others. So what is more important to you - a clean barn or abundant crops? A problem free life or a productive life? We have to make a choice because we can’t have both.
“And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done WITH them,…” Acts 14:27
God what do You want to do WITH me?