Proverbs 14:4 - The Dirty Barn

What is the most gratifying thing about your work? When it's completed, what do you most enjoy about your accomplishment?

On the other hand, what do you most dislike about your work? When you start a task, what are some aspects that make the job uncomfortable, if not distasteful?

Some people like to tinker with cars. But then you have to clean the shop and your tools if you want things in good working order. Other people like to cook. But then the kitchen needs to be cleaned up.

It's a blessing if you find a job that pays for something you enjoy doing. Even if you get paid for a "dream job," it will include less-than-desirable aspects.

And so we come to another lesson from barns. Solomon wrote this proverb well before anyone debated who made the best tractors for farm work. 

"Without oxen a {barn} stays clean, but you need a strong ox for a large harvest." (Proverbs 14:4, New Living Translation, modified)

In other words, if you want great results from your work, there will be manure to shovel along the way. (Pick your favorite colloquial paraphrase.)

Even then, without God's blessing our best work is fruitless (Psalm 127:1).

Therefore we pray,

"...let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us;
And do confirm for us the work of our hands;
Yes, give permanence to the work of our hands." Amen
(Psalm 90:17 with alternate rendering from the New American Standard Bible, 1995)

PHOTOS:
Montana Barn off of I-90, mile marker 161 (7 miles E of Drummond). Photo 2014.
It probably doesn't smell like manure, but broken fences indicate that it's been a while since it held livestock.
Lorch Mennonite Barn, May City, Iowa. A-34  & White Ave. (Built 1906, photo 2013)
The Lorch Barn is an "historic site." Clean, freshly painted... but unproductive.