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

It’s a lot less work keeping a barn clean if the owner never puts farm animals in it.

But less work in the barn means less working animals out in the field.

And how smart is it to have a barn with stables and no field animals?

The point is this — enjoying the benefit of work done out in the field comes with doing some work of our own in order to deal with messes that are just part of everyday life.

The application is quite simple with respect to family life, work life, church life or any other setting within which people are involved.

Yes, it’s less hassle in one sense if we don’t have to deal with stinky situations caused by a difficult relative or co-worker or church member.

And, yes, those moaning when we want them to be quiet can create quite a distraction for us and even more so for the others in our “barn.”

But the alternative produces its own set of hassles — as in little or nothing being accomplished for the intended beneficiary.

There are hundreds of millions of wannabe parents around the world who would delight to have a child throwing a temper tantrum in their living room because the child didn’t get his or her way with something or who was crying over a spilled bowl of ice cream or who was stinkin’ up the place with a disaster diaper.

The idea of being irritated with a child’s messes to the point of not wanting kids, though? That would never happen for such couples because they understand that a quiet, hassle-free house does not line up with their desire for a harvest of family love and memories of growing closer through the challenges.

It’s the same at work or school or at church.

People are people. They aren’t perfect. I’m not. You’re not.

Yes, we should keep our “stall” clean 100 percent of the time so that others don’t have to deal with distasteful actions or words. But we don’t. And that’s why we must resist the temptation of pointing fingers at others’ perceived failures while at the same time holding noses on soured faces.

Let’s be gracious toward the people in our lives, even though they’re not perfect.

For we can sure that there have been times when they were gracious to us, despite our imperfections.

If God didn’t want to ever deal with messes, He would have never given us life.

That’s why Jesus came to provide the greatest barn cleaner the world had ever seen.

Let’s try our best to not drain the life out of others by nitpicking their stalls while ignoring the piles in our own.

We’ll all accomplish more out in the field this way.

As always, I love you
Martin

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