Nowadays it may be hard to imagine life without modern machinery. Well try to imagine growing a field of your own food, and plowing that field without a tractor. How much land would you cover if you only had use of a shovel and a hoe? Think you could plant enough to feed your family for an entire winter?
We started using farm animals like Oxen because they are big and strong, so they could easily pull a plow through several acres of land each day. Without oxen, the harvests would have been smaller. Additionally, I can just imagine how it must have been to “clean up” after Oxen. It’s bad enough to have to clean up after a small dog… but an ox?
Nevertheless, you had to have some oxen on your team, if you wanted a big harvest back in the day. It’s no different from the harvest that we’re sowing today. As individuals we can only cover a little ground, but as a team, we can achieve a whole lot more. I have to thank Nate for sending me that verse about Oxen yesterday. It was mid-day and I was tired of being on the computer, and having somewhat of a rough day dealing with the team. So when I read it, I was able to refocus on the big picture which has a big harvest in it.
I learned a long time ago that I can’t do it a alone. I need a team in order to do the things that I want to do and go the places that I want to go. There’s an African Proverb that says: If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.
~Matthew