No Manure, No Money

Have you heard those cute sayings about hard work?  “You’ve got to crack a few eggs if you want to make an omelet”. "The early bird gets the worm”. "Easy come, easy go”.  And "business before pleasure”.  The Bible teaches the principle of working hard if we want to prosper in life.  I came across another cute saying derived from a verse in the book of Proverbs.  Proverbs 14:4 says: “Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox”. In other words, it says, “no manure no money”.  If you didn’t have an ox the stall would be clean but having an ox requires shoveling a lot of manure.  But when you put that ox to work you will have an abundant harvest.

             So many people in our world today feel that life owes them something.  This attitude of entitlement has trickled down into our young people and is a detriment to a thriving society.  We all remember what President John Kennedy said: “Don’t ask what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”.  Cracked eggs, dirty hands, hard work, and entrepreneurship is what has made this country great.

            This same hard work spirit should also be seen in the house of the Lord.  I hope that when you go to church you are not going as a spectator but as a servant.  Don’t show up just expecting to get a blessing but arrive determined to be a blessing to someone else.  Jesus was talking to a group of His disciples who were debating about who would be the greatest in His kingdom.  Jesus said to them in Mark 10:43-45: “Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many”.  Our Lord teaches all of His followers to work hard in serving others.