Dirty Stables: God's Prefered Choice

Is your stable clean or dirty?

A friend recently told me how he came across Proverbs 14:4:  'Without oxen a stable stays clean, but you need a strong ox for a large harvest."

We would love to have a showroom home.  Picture-perfect lives.  A "clean stable," if you will.  But the only way to have a clean stable is to get rid of the oxen in our lives.  That is, our lives would be more managable and attractive, perhaps, if:

• I lived and worked in the US, so that we could own a large home, two cars, etc.
• Ann worked outside the home
  
• We sent our kids to public school
• My office wasn't in the middle of our living room
• Ann's workspace didn't double as our dining room table
• We weren't always moving
  
• etc.

As attractive as our stable might be, it would still be a stable and its purpose wouldn't be fulfilled.

So, for that reason, we are so glad we have a dirty stable, full of oxen, so that we can reap a large harvest, because...

"The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few."  -Jesus