Proverbs 14:4 All those damn students

Where no oxen are, the manger is clean, But much revenue comes by the strength of the ox.

Proverbs 14:4 NASB

When I worked at Bellevue College, there was a period when summer classes ended in August and fall classes began in late September — a time when most faculty and students spent time elsewhere. The administrative and operations staff remained and could perform critical infrastructure upgrades, campus improvements, and double down in preparation for a new year of classes. My boss, the CFO said at one point, “we can finally get some work done when all those damn students aren’t around.”

Students and oxen (and instructors) are messy. To the housekeepers, keeping the manger clean is the goal. To the rancher, being productive is more important, even if it comes with a cost and some waste.

Oxen versus Ox

The term for oxen refers to the family, or kine. There are many. Cattle. Compared to the ox, meaning the head of cattle or an ox. The proverb moves from general — cattle, farming, the whole experience, to the specific — the animal, the individual value that it brings, the marvelousness of the ecosystem of fruitfulness and productivity coming from this particular asset. When you you see a field of oxen, do you see a mess or opportunity? Work and pain, or reaping a harvest? Depending on the glasses one wears, the worldview one maintains, circumstances, resources, people, and even animals all may strike a different picture in my mind. I often see people as messy and unpredictable. But when I look at my spouse, I see great value and beauty. If I’ve been deeply hurt in a relationship where someone betrayed or rejected me, and today another is reaching out in friendliness, will the pain of the past pulse to the surface and turn me away or will I view it as a gift God has given? A new friendship may have the power to exorcise the lies of worthlessness I’ve believed. Valuable relationships are like the strength of an ox, bringing much value.

None versus much

No cattle. None. There is a sense of nothingness. Compared to much revenue, meaning abundance, greatness, huge increase. When I think of this contrast, a few pictures come to mind. Most of my life I have hiked in the Pacific Northwest where I would often travel through dense forests where it is difficult to see anything but the timber around me. Today as I hike in the Southwest desert, there is very little which obstructs my view. It’s gorgeous, yet barren. None versus much. In high school, like my classmates, I was often engulfed in the hurried life and cacophony of daily classes, but being on the leadership council I would often stay at school much past the last bell and walk the halls. Late in the day those same corridors that had earlier been filled with people talking and slamming shut lockers were now empty and quiet. It was eerie, but made me stop and consider many things. There is value in both timber and filled hallways, along with desert vistas and quietness and solitude at school. They each have their place. But if I want something, “much” is better starting point than none.

Cleanliness vs revenue

What is the outcome of “no” or “much?” Either clean (empty) or revenue.

Clean: choice, clean, clear, from the root barar (in its various senses); beloved; also pure, empty.

Revenue: From bow’ meaning income, i.e. Produce (literally or figuratively) — fruit, gain, increase, revenue. Translated (NAS) crop (4), crops (6), gain (1), harvest (4), income (4), increase (3), produce (10), product (3), revenue (2), yield (5), yield may increase (1).

It is natural that the reader will view gain as good. Juxtaposed next to the cleanness of the stall, one must make a choice. And the choice toward gain and sustainability is typically the right one.

Think about it from the Father’s perspective: people are messy. We are complicated. There is a lot of baggage that we carry. And often we are irrational and create big messes. But at our core, we have worth. Deep value. It’s OK to laugh at the humble versus the haughty. The highly exalted man still uses the restroom. The beautiful ox, still messes the manger (Lit. Crib, or feeding trough, or stall — the place were cattle live). No matter how big or how glorious the victory or success, there will always be the lowly, humble, and different way of looking at it view.

So when I think about clean troughs, or much revenue, the heart of the equation is not nothing versus something, but willingness. Really? Yes. Am I willing to embrace the messy, hustle bustle, of living life to the fullest? Or would I prefer to live clean, simple, organized, and in control, yet without the increase that is available. I can’t produce something from nothing, but when my heart is ready to own the Ox, the Ox will come. It has to do with my willingness and faith. God doesn’t set me in front of a field with no plow, no seed, and no oxen. If it looks that way, my eyes are not seeing what He does. He sets me there because there is a purpose I may find in the activity. Find it. Embrace it. Open up to it and expect it. Here is a key to unlock this door… read:

Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”

Matthew13:11-12NASB

In all my nothingness and emptiness, if I have (in my heart, mind, and spirit) and believe it, then more will be given. But if I am holding much, own much, have many things, and believe that I “have not” then, those things which I do have will eventually be gone. Wow.