Increase Can be Messy, but Profitable

Proverbs 14:4 ESV
“Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.”

I know this sounds a bit odd for a devotion but follow me for a moment. When I saw this proverb, I thought for a moment that this applies to me, especially on Monday morning. I straighten out the tools in my truck on the weekend, so that on Monday I can find everything easily. All the parts and pieces that I will need to do my job are in place and replenished.

If I were to go to my truck and have none of my tools in my truck, or the parts and pieces needed to do my job, I would not be able to make a profit, until everything that I needed was in place. Where there are no tools, the truck is clean, but abundance of profit comes by the use of my tools.

We can apply this to our minds and spirits. If there is no activity that cultivates each, mind, and spirit, then there will not be any productivity that day. We have to feed our minds and Spirits with good things, scriptures, or a Bible study, or maybe a passed message that we saved. We could have a productive conversation with a friend, loved one or a neighbor about something uplifting and wholesome.

My mother used to say, “an idle mind is the devils workshop.” That is true. Feed on good things today make the mind and spirit productive and the profit of spiritual things will bless us abundantly.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, feed us today, give us this day our daily bread, mental, physical, and spiritual food. In Your name Lord Jesus, Amen!