Proverbs 14:4 “Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox.”

Reading Proverbs last year was an incredible experience for me. I noticed this verse last year and has been somewhere at the back of my mind ever since.

Through the example of the ox in farming, God is teaching us some amazing truths about living for Christ in this world.

I did a bit of research on the farm uses of an ox, and found (as I had kind of thought!) that oxen are used to “do work” such as like plowing fields, pulling carts etc.

They do the tough, hard work. We may use tractors now, but back then and still in many countries, the ox is an extremely valuable and irreplaceable beast… you cannot prepare and plant a field without it.

… if you can’t prepare your field, then you can’t plant and produce, and then you can’t earn $ or eat. … so oxen are pretty important! In fact the whole farm runs and depends upon them.

But here’s the problem and the dichotomy we find in this verse… because unfortunately they make a mess also! They poo and mess up their stall! It’s an occupational hazard, because it comes with the territory… but the farmer thinks overall they’re more than worth it!

I’ve visited a dairy farm before and I’ve seen (and smelt!) for myself that the “crib” isn’t clean after they’ve brought the cows in to milk them…

But also … what do they get from the cows? Milk, which they sell, and make money out of, and people buy to drink and use in their food … so the milk justifies the dirty stall.

Translate this to us, and as a Christian following Christ… there are occupational hazards. It would be nice to live life where we don’t have to deal with any manure, any mess, anything unsavoury to deal with… unfortunately such a Christian walk does not exist.

This is an amazing truth here, because we kinda understand it already. Take for instance parents having kids… they have the joy of having children… but there’s also a lot of poo and messes to deal with! The child is more than worth it though.

… In this verse, God is giving us perspective along with a healthy dose of reality while educating us about what we will experience as we follow him.

When Paul wrote to a young evangelist and minister of Christ in Timothy, he drew a comparison between Christians in ministry and an ox.

Because like the ox in the field doing work, God’s also given us all a field to tend to… and work is involved. I don’t know what your field is, but we all have something that God has given us to do, to the glory and increase of his kingdom.

How are we doing with that? Because when we do start truly serving God, we inevitably discover there’s a bit of a mess that comes with that. Yikes!!

We’d all love to live squeaky clean lives as whitewashed and sterile as the modern home… imagine being able to serve God and get along with everybody perfectly, imagine a life with no pain or troubles or sorrows or persecutions and problems that arise from following Christ! … I could get around that!

But the thing is, there is no such thing as following Christ and not bearing a cross. Just ask Simon of Cyrene… he tried coming out clean, next minute he’s lugging Jesus’ cross for him. Hot, sweaty, tiring, and pretty humiliating work that was… but he did help our Lord and Saviour.

Jesus died on the cross alone, because only he could pay our sin debt and reconcile us to God… but if we ever “come out” for him, be sure we will be compelled by this world, as the Romans soldiers did Simon, to bear a cross in following him. But look at it as a privilege and not a burden.

And back to the example of the ox, well what are you going to do anyway? Get rid of your oxen to keep the stall clean? But then who would plough your fields? How would you produce anything? A farmer himself can’t do what the ox can do.

So we just gotta deal with it, but it’s the right battle to be in! Yes, as a Christian you will cop the manure of false accusations, lies, people mistreating you, and there will be hard times as God changes us and we serve him … but the increase is well worth it.

Faith is a fight, and we need to get in the battle. But battles get messy. One day David’s dad sent him to the front lines to check on his bros… and next minute he’d be walking out to face Goliath! And a big battle was won that day all because a young boy “rolled up his sleeves” and got involved.

The Bible says in Jeremiah 48:10 “Cursed be he that doeth the work of the LORD deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.” If you think God’s work can be done while standing back and keeping “clean” from any mud being slung at you and letting everyone else cop the bullets… God won’t bless that.

Stop holding back and get out in the field Christian! There’s a lot of increase to be had, many souls are hungering for truth… stop being too clean and neat and precious and leaving it to someone else to get involved!

Because if you don’t want the mess… you’ll never see the increase!

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