Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but from the strength of an ox comes an abundant harvest.
Proverbs 14:4 (NIV:1984)
I will never forget the day I first read Proverbs 14:4 in my Bible. My family had embarked on a journey to become financially free, and I was reading the entire book of Proverbs to find verses providing wisdom about money and money management. Many verses in Proverbs were already well-known to me and had made a profound impact on my life. But, Proverbs 14:4 never registered on my radar until that day. Its wisdom gripped me and stopped me in my tracks. “Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but from the strength of an ox comes an abundant harvest.”
I grew up on a small farm. We raised or grew just about anything and everything. We had pigs, cows, ducks, and chickens. Our crops included corn, soybeans, wheat, and hay. I loved growing up on a farm. It is where I learned the value of hard work, about sowing and reaping, the cycle of life, and how everything in God’s creation is interconnected and dependent upon each other.
Maybe Proverbs 14:4 connected with me so strongly because it was talking about a life I knew that included farm animals, farm equipment, and a harvest, but I think the real reason it connected with me is because it described my financial situation – my manger was empty.
I don’t know if you have ever watched cattle eat from their mangers, but they will stand eating at a manger until all of the food is gone, and then they will lick the manger clean just to ensure all remaining scraps are consumed. This described my financial situation. I could scrape together enough money to pay the bills, but beyond that, there was absolutely nothing left over. Every single spare dime we gained inevitably departed our presence – never to be seen again. Our version of “licking the manger” was running out of money and then physically turning our piggy bank over to find enough coins to buy food off the dollar menu.
The same scenario played out every single month. We made money, and then we consumed every last dollar. Just like the oxen, we would be faced with an empty manger and were forced to stand around waiting for the next paycheck to refill it. It seemed like there was never enough for the moment, let alone storing up for the future.
On the day I encountered Proverbs 14:4, I realized that the writer shares two potential outcomes: an “empty manger” and an “abundant harvest”.
Two Potential Outcomes – Proverbs 14:4
An empty manger
An abundant harvest
An empty manger is barren. It represents hunger and potential famine. The manger once held food, but now it is cleaned out. It has nothing left over. To more fully comprehend this, imagine that your entire house is void of food – the pantry, cupboards, and refrigerator are completely empty.
An abundant harvest is presented as an alternative outcome. I liked the sound of this much better than an empty manger. An abundant harvest suggests that we have a full manger – all of the time. Dictionary.com defines “abundant” as “present in great quantity; more than adequate; over-sufficient.”
As I pondered these two potential outcomes. I sensed a life-changing moment approaching. I knew if I could truly grasp the wisdom contained within this verse, my life would be radically changed. As I read Proverbs 14:4 again, I saw what made the difference between an empty manger and an abundant harvest: oxen.
A farmer knows it is impossible to reap an abundant harvest without oxen. The same is true for all of us even if we aren’t farmers.
If I continued managing my money without the help of financial oxen, the opportunity for an abundant harvest would be greatly limited. After all, there was only so much I could accomplish on my own. Like most people, I was working a “Work, get paid. Don’t work, don’t get paid.” job. Even if I worked twelve hours every day, there was a limit to how much I could earn on my own. My earnings would allow me to feed my family, but without a serious change to the way we managed our money, the income would probably only be enough to maintain our household. We would continue to be stuck in the “empty manger” cycle, cleaning out the manger each month and then standing around waiting for the next paycheck to arrive. The worst realization of all was knowing that even if I worked for fifty years of my life, my income would cease the moment I chose to retire. It became imminently clear that I needed oxen in order for my family to experience abundance.
There is a choice each person must make. In pursuit of financial abundance, you can choose to rely on yourself and your own abilities, or you can acquire oxen to help you. Don’t miss my wording here. It is a choice, whether a conscious one or not, that each one of us will make as we journey through life.
I have chosen to acquire oxen, and have found Proverbs 14:4 to be absolutely true. While my family’s oxen acquisition journey has been adventurous, frightening, incredible, and exciting, I have discovered that the strength of oxen has indeed led to an abundant harvest. The same can be true for you. All you need is some good oxen.