THINK TOGETHER.
Do you like your room to be clean or messy?
READ TOGETHER
Proverbs 14:4. Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.
Everything we do in life comes with a cost. That’s what Solomon is reminding his children of here in Proverbs 14:4. If you want a clean manger (the feed trough for animals in a barn), then you can get rid of your ox. But if you get rid of your ox, you won’t have abundant crops.
In our lives today we might say “Where there is no cooking, the kitchen is clean.” If you want to keep your kitchen clean, then don’t ever cook anything. But what would be the cost? That’s right, no good food to eat. Or we might say, “Where there is no baseball game, the uniform is clean.” But if you want to play a sport, you have to get the uniform dirty. If you want to plant a garden, the ground has to be broken up. If you want to play the guitar well, you have to first make mistakes.
Here’s the point: the good things that God gives us in life are often hard and messy. We have to work hard if we want to get the best things out of life. Messes have to be made to create something beautiful. Nothing good comes easily.
Jesus knew this too. In order to save us, he had to leave the nice, clean life of Heaven and come into this very messy world. He was born in a dirty manger likely next to oxen, donkeys, and sheep. And, of course, he died on a dirty, disgusting, terrible cross. Why? So that he could have you and me in his life forever.
Learning how to love and trust like Jesus can be hard and messy too. You can choose to stay away from “messy” people and ignore them, but if you do, you will miss out on becoming more like Jesus. If you choose to be like Jesus, and be kind to everyone, then it will get hard and messy. But it will always be worth it.
Because of Jesus we can do the hard work necessary to become like him.
With Jesus we can be kind even when it is hard and messy.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Plan a day of doing something together that is messy but worth it: planting a garden, taking care of a pet, playing a sport, painting a room, etc. Talk about how the best things in life are often the hardest – like loving others as Jesus does.
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus, help me to do the hard things in life and learn to trust you as I go. Amen.
TLICfamily 