June 10, 2007 - Clean Stalls

June 10, 2007

Pro 14:4 ESV
(4) Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.

I have heard this verse many times as a joke verse to get a congregation to laugh. There is so much truth in it though. A stall will be clean when you do not have an animal in it. there will be no manure to clean and no food to get eaten by rodents and other animals. In truth, a clean stall is so nice.

The problem comes in there is no work being done if we have a clean stall. There is no animal out there doing work to bring in the increase in income. So if we want increase it comes at a cost.

Every day that I sit down to write these devotionals I look at an empty stall. It is very tempting to leave it clean. The word processor that I use has a nice blank open space for me to work from. If I type I will misspell things, maybe offend someone, who knows what will happen? In the end, that clean slate gets messed up. Words get moved around and things work out. In the end, God speaks to me even if He speaks to none of you. My stall is messed up. I learn. What stall do you need to dirty up a little today?

Translation Information
“Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”