And, like the most simple of those
parables, the most simple of the proverbs have often the very
deepest meaning.
'In all labour there is profit.' Whatsoever is worth doing, is
worth doing well. It is always worth while to take pains. In
another proverb, homely enough--but if it be in the Bible, it is not
too homely for us--'Where no oxen are, the crib is clean,' Solomon
says the same thing as in the text. He says, 'Where no oxen are,
the farmer is saved trouble; the clearing away of dirt and refuse;
and all the labour required to keep his cattle in condition: but
all that trouble,' Solomon says, if a man will but undergo it, will
repay itself; 'for much increase is in the strength of the ox.' For
the ox, in that country, as in most parts of the world now, is the
beast used for ploughing, and for all the work of the farm.
Now, herein, I think, Solomon gives us a lesson which holds good
through all matters of life. That it is a short-sighted mistake to
avoid taking trouble; for God has so well ordered this world, that
industry will always repay itself. No doubt it is much easier and
pleasanter for the savage to scratch the seed into the ground with
some rude wooden tool, and sit idle till the grain ripens: much
easier and pleasanter, than to breed and break in beasts, and to
labour all the year round at the different duties of a well-ordered
farm: but here is the mighty difference; that the savage, growing
only enough for himself, is in continual danger of famine, he and
all his tribe; while the civilized farmer, producing many times more
than he needs for himself, gains food, comfort, and safety, not only
for himself, but for many other human beings.
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