The Plow, Proverbs 20

"A sluggard does not plow in season; so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing."

Proverbs 20:4
Have you ever been behind a plow? I have not, but I have worked on a farm with a friend of mine one summer when I was about 10. It was great being on the ranch until wake-up call at 5:00am. We ate a big, homemade breakfast with fresh eggs over easy, real bacon straight from the hog farm, grits, coffee, fresh squeezed orange juice, and home baked bread toast with jelly preserves. Breakfast was incredible. Then it was time to get to work and we did work all day. The other meals were just as fantastic after a hard days' work.

We had varied duties throughout the morming and afternoon like gathering feed bags to feed the hogs, we administered iron shots to newborn pigs, sexed the piglets (cut the tails off of the females for easier identification), walked the 10,000 turkeys (pull out the dead ones that got smothered during the night), and drive the tractor to plow up the soil. I enjoyed driving the tractor best. I felt like real rancher.

It is hard for me to imagine what it must be like to have to plow a field with a horse (or without one). That kind of work takes grit and determination. Yet, we are called to do just that in our business, at work, and for the expansion of the Kingdom. Have you spent some time plowing for the Kingdom? What kind of harvest are you expecting?


"Serve and Lazy" skit

Proverbs 20:13 - "Do not love sleep or you will grow poor; stay awake and you will have food to spare."

Have you ever tried to sleep with one eye open? I have, it doesn't work. While processing through Marine bootcamp in 1988, there was no time to rest. In the classroom, one could at least try to "fake" attention while trying to catch even just 1 minute of sleep. The object was to keep one eye open and close the other. Embarassing as it was, it was worth risking at the time it seemed. Of course, the drill instructors would catch an unsuspecting recruit like me and make a submission payment for the "snooze" that was darn right unbearable. Thus the saying the Marine Corps, "You snooze, you lose."

I think this Proverb encourages us to have a strong work ethic. There is always one more thing we can do, push our limits a little more, get something done, and benefit for that sacrifice. The 1% difference between overwhelming success and mediocrity. Time to dig in even further.

On Mission, On Assignment, and in the ZONE!

Andy Valadez
e-mail: andy@marketingdynamics.org