Promise for Today Favorite - Olly Olly Oxen Free

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

When we played "Hide and Seek" as children and the seeker got tired of looking for the hidden, he used to holler, "Olly Olly Oxen Free!" which signaled to those still hidden that they could come out of hiding without fear of being tagged "it". Now, what that has to do with oxen is anyone's guess. It's one of those phrases that the origin is pure conjecture, but the implication is well understood. 

In the child's game, the seeker searches for the hidden and gets tired, so he quits. It's easier in the moment to not search even though it means he will remain "it" and alone, and nobody wins. Likewise, the principle is loosely similar. the stable stays clean if you just don't bother getting the oxen in the first place. However, without them, you don't have a harvest so there is no win.

For instance, nobody likes to muck out a stable. However, if you own farm animals, mucking out goes with the territory. If you don't clean up, the animals will become ill and not able to work. The training and care of oxen require hard work and patience, not to mention resources. Do you know that just one working ox will eat about 33-35 pounds of good brush hay each day, plus it needs a feed supplement and an available salt lick, not to mention water, etc? And that an ox should be 4 years old before being put to hard work, so you either support it for several years with no return or you pay the premium price.

The Truth is, there is no Olly Olly Oxen Free without first making an investment. There is a cost. In the case of salvation, it is free to us, but only because Christ already paid the price. Nevertheless, we must work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12) - to bring it to the place of completion. If we don't finish the race, we cannot win.

Keep searching His Word - don't quit when you get tired. He will be found by those who search diligently for Him.  And with Him, we win!

Prayer:

Father,
           Reveal Your Word even in the obscure. Speak to us daily, for without You we are lost. Open our ears to hear, our hearts to obey, and our minds to receive Your wisdom. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Worth It

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

It takes a lot of work to get a stable clean - mucking and raking on a daily basis and power-washing, disinfecting... There's a true sense of accomplishment in getting it done. However, there's no time to stand back and enjoy the look of it because the animal will go back in, and then all the mucking and raking will have to be done again on the morrow. The irony is if you want a stable and you want it to stay clean, you can't have animals. What use is that? The reward of your labor in caring for the animals is more than compensated for in the harvest results. It is worth it. 

By the same token, if we want a harvest of souls, there will be less-than-pleasant aspects of gathering them into the Kingdom. Discipleship isn't easy - for the disciple or for the one doing the discipling. Ask Jesus... He said nevertheless, we're worth it. 

Prayer:

Father,

          Give us Your eyes so we have the proper perspective for our journey with You. Help us to see past all the distractions to the heart of the matter. Give us a fresh anointing of compassion, mercy and grace for those within our reach. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen