Blessed With a Mess
Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but from the strength of an ox come abundant harvests. (Proverbs 14:4 NIV).
Where there is life, there is mess. I prefer clean and pristine, but that comes with a price called loneliness. Kids, family, people, and life in general make life messy! How beautiful and picturesque is a barn without oxen. It’s easy to keep clean and always ready for a Hallmark movie shoot. But when you consider what the owner is missing out on, it isn’t worth it. Without the oxen, there is no harvest!
God had to make this choice in His own life. Was He going to be clean and pristine, and holy, without unclean people loving Him? Or was He going to let people into His life, bringing all our mess with us to Him? We know that He chose life. He chose mess. He loved us so much that He came down to the mess and became a part of it.
You have a choice to make. Will you accept the work, the mess, and all the chaos it takes to have people in your life? Obviously, boundaries are necessary, but even so, it takes work to accommodate friends and family. Are you willing to lay down your life to be a friend? Will you go the extra mile for someone? If God thought it worth His while, perhaps we should too.
John Eaton
Pastor of RELATE Church
(214) 733-3069