Proverbs 14:4 “Without oxen a stable stays clean, but you need a strong ox for a large harvest.”

I read through Proverbs with my parents during the month of December. And so I was reading Proverbs 14 one day and then I crossed verse 4 which in my Bible was the very last one on the page. I read the words and then began to flip the page and then I thought, what did that say?? So I reread it and God revealed some words!!

I am a recovering perfectionist and so having a clean and tidy and “perfect” kept place or space is important to me, or rather was. But God used this simple little 2 line verse to remind me that He doesn’t call me to be clean and put together and seemingly perfect. He calls me to plant seeds, to harvest, to till soil, and to examine soil. I realized everything that Jesus used as an analogy to doing His work requires us to get dirty.

So what does that mean? It means that we are going to get dirty doing His work. We are going to sweat and be tired and possibly stink like a stable. But would we rather have a clean barn or a strong ox and a large harvest??? We CANNOT do God’s work and come away untouched, unchanged, and clean. We cannot work in the field and not be effected ourselves. It’s a refining process, as we work the harvest, God also works in us. Just like any good farmer, He teaches His workers and shows us things so we can glean and grow into even better farm hands. 

In the Gospel of Matthew it also reminds us that Jesus’ yoke is easy and His burden is light (Matthew 11:30). We don’t go out into the field alone, we go yoked with the One True Living God! What a privilege that we worship and work WITH a God who didn’t just send us out but calls us alongside of Him. 

They will know us by our love (John 13:35), but also the proof of a life lived for God is also seen through the dirt on your hands from the work we do with our lives. So be proud of the dirt under your fingernails, we are working in the field of a Master Creator, what an honor to have a boss that loves you and knows you and works alongside you, even living within you!!!

Doesn’t that make you want to roll up your sleeves and get your boots on!