BIBLE CLASSES: ARE THEY WORTH IT?

The wise man, Solomon, wrote, “Where no oxen are, the trough is clean; but much increase comes by the strength of an ox” (Prov. 14.4).

That may seem a strange statement, but it contains great wisdom when you think about it. With cattle, you must clean old hay from the manger and spoiled feed from the trough, or else the cattle might get very sick. It is one of those chores that is not enjoyable, but absolutely necessary. Now one way to avoid this unpleasant task is to have no cattle, because then you’ll never need to have feed in the troughs. In Bible times, however, farmers depended upon oxen to pull the plow. Selling your oxen to avoid having to clean their trough would be rather shortsighted, don’t you think? Fields needed to be plowed, and pulling a plow is hard work. I’d rather clean a trough than pull a plow, or worse, have no food to eat!

Worthwhile things require investment. Parents invest to raise their children. Think of the 2 a.m. feedings, the extra bedrooms to build, healthcare costs, education costs, and the expense of taxiing them here, there, and everywhere. Why invest the time, effort, and resources? Because the results (love, joy, satisfaction) make the investment worthwhile. Children are a blessing from God!

Investment is necessary in the church. If we didn’t produce this bulletin, I wouldn’t need to write an article. Why do we invest the time, effort, and resources to provide a bulletin? We think it does some good. Ditto for Bible classes. Without them, we wouldn’t have to hunt for teachers, and the teachers wouldn’t need to prepare. We would need no classrooms, nor would we need to pay for Bible class material. Furthermore, we could show up an hour later than we do now. But we make the investment because the dividends are more than worth it! Teaching Sunday morning and Wednesday evening Bible classes is rarely convenient, but well worth it! The members are worth it – the children are worth it! Don’t you think?

God made the supreme investment by sending Jesus to live the perfect example, teach the truth, and die a sacrificial death for us. Had God been satisfied to leave us eternally lost, Jesus could have avoided poverty, pain, heartache, and death. Why did God invest His very Self? Evidently He thinks we are worth it. He loves us and desires our fellowship.

Do we feel the same way about our Bible classes? Are we willing to invest our time, effort, and resources? Or would we prefer to sell the ox so the trough will stay clean? It’d be easier! [BTW]