Oxen of Christ

Proverbs 14:4
Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but from the strength of an ox comes an abundant harvest.

When I read this verse I can’t help but think about Matthew 9:37 when Jesus tells us that "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few." We are those workers that God is calling to help bring in the harvest - those who are ripe to accept Christ. We are the oxen.

The oxen however won’t do any good, unless they let their master tell them where to go and how to work. The oxen know this by the yoke they wear, through which they are told to go left or right, to stop or to go. Christ tells us in the Word to "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." We are to let Christ master us, and tell us where to go - He wants to put His yoke on us. Now, that may sound a little scary, and may cause us to wonder what that would be like, but Matthew tells us that He is "gentle and humble in heart," and that when we let Him put His yoke on us we "will find rest for [our] souls." Doesn’t that sound wonderful? We don’t tend to want to be yoked to anyone, when in fact when we are yoked to Christ, we will be in a better situation than if we weren’t.

If only every Christian out there was willing to let the Master put His yoke on them! We would have more than enough oxen to bring in the harvest. And as a result of the harvest, we would have even more oxen! Wouldn’t that be so awesome? Let’s start with us - won’t you join me in putting on Christ’s yoke? If we let Him tell us where to go and how to get there, our life will be better, and we won’t have to worry about bringing in the harvest ourselves, because we will simply be Christ’s oxen. It is His work to do, He just needs the oxen.