Archive for September 2011
SERIES: Proverbs 14:4 – Put Your Oxen To Work – Part 4
Welcome to the latest series on JosephSangl.com – “Proverbs 14:4 – Put Your Oxen To Work”
Proverbs 14:4 – Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but from the strength of an ox comes an abundant harvest.
Part 4 Put your oxen to work!
This is the fun part! As you put your oxen to work and provide adequate nourishment and attention, they will begin to work for you in ways you never thought possible. Your 401(k) will grow without the need for any energy expenditure from you. The rental house will produce income and increase in value even when you are on vacation. The book that you’ve been wanting to write will be purchased by people from across the globe – even while you sleep. The website will sell products without your direct involvement. The team of people at your business will work to serve customers whether you are there or not.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking your oxen will work perfectly with zero involvement from you. The last I checked, oxen will still wander off if you don’t provide them some direction and leadership. Be sure to establish a system that allows you to always know the numbers and enables you to measure the health of your herd.
As your oxen work for you, they will truly provide an abundant harvest which will allow you to bless your family and those in need in ways you never thought possible.
TRUTH: Oxen acquisition can allow you to enjoy an abundant harvest.
ACTION: Will you share with me one thing that most connected with you during this series?
SERIES: Proverbs 14:4 – Put Your Oxen To Work – Part 3
Welcome to the latest series on JosephSangl.com – “Proverbs 14:4 – Put Your Oxen To Work”
Proverbs 14:4 – Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but from the strength of an ox comes an abundant harvest.
Part 3 Acquire oxen.
The manger is empty when there are no oxen. The manger is designed to hold food. When faced with the decision of “empty manger/no food” versus “abundant harvest”, I am going to choose the abundant harvest every single time. It is my belief that this would be your choice also.
Obviously, the critical step toward an abundant harvest is to have oxen. These oxen, however, can be expensive. Acquiring a McDonald’s franchise can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Starting a business can also cost an enormous amount of money. So where does one start out? We must start out just like everyone else – start where you are with what you have.
I challenge you to write down your plans, hopes, and dreams on paper. Seriously, take five minutes to ponder your goals and write them down. Now, next to each goal, write down how much each goal will cost. This process will help you understand the necessity of acquiring an ox or two.
My oxen acquisition started by fully funding my 401(k). I contributed the maximum amount allowed by law. Notice that I did not contribute just enough to gain the company match. This is a great start, but to truly get the 401(k) ox to work for me, I needed to maximize my contributions. If you simply can’t contribute the maximum, start with a little and increase it on a consistent basis so that you will be maximizing it in just a few years. These investments seemed so little at the start that it seemed pointless. Just 15 years later, however, the 401(k) ox is healthy and doing a LOT of heavy lifting for me! It will do the same for you.
Nine years ago, I was living paycheck-to-paycheck. By applying myself little by little every single day, God has saw fit to bless me. I am convinced beyond a shadow of doubt that He can do the same for you.
TRUTH: Oxen acquisition can allow you to enjoy an abundant harvest.
We’ll talk more about putting the oxen to work in Part Four.
SERIES: Proverbs 14:4 – Put Your Oxen To Work – Part 2
Welcome to the latest series on JosephSangl.com – “Proverbs 14:4 – Put Your Oxen To Work”
Proverbs 14:4 – Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but from the strength of an ox comes an abundant harvest.
Part 2 Identify your oxen.
In Part 1, we investigated the meaning of this verse and discovered the truth that “To accomplish more financially, you’ll need oxen to help you.” Now that this is known, it is important to identify the potential “oxen” that could work for you – in place of you – and produce additional income (abundant harvests).
A retirement investment account (such as a 401(k), 403(b), 457, TSP, or Roth or Traditional IRA) are oxen. Think about it. When your retirement investments go up in value over time, does it require much effort from you? Absolutely not. Like an ox, you will need to occasionally provide direction and guidance to the investment account, but it will do the heavy lifting for you and take your finances places you can not get to on your own.
Another form of oxen is business ownership. An owner of a McDonald’s franchise makes money even when they are at home asleep because the system is producing profits without their active and direct involvement every minute of the day.
My books, I Was Broke. Now I’m Not., What Everyone Should Know About Money Before They Enter The Real World, and Funded And Free are oxen. People purchase the book during all hours of the day and night. It helps them prosper with their finances, and it provides income so that our team can stay focused on developing new resources to help people and live out our call and passion.
Real estate such as rental houses, commercial properties, and land can increase in value regardless of your attention or effort.
It is time for you to acquire some oxen and put them to work for you!
TRUTH: Significant wealth is achieved when one identifies ways to produce income regardless of effort or time invested.
We’ll talk more about acquiring oxen in Part Three.
SERIES: Proverbs 14:4 – Put Your Oxen To Work – Part 1
Welcome to the latest series on JosephSangl.com – “Proverbs 14:4 – Put Your Oxen To Work”
Perhaps no verse has had more of an impact on my financial management than this verse. I believe that if you apply these principles, your finances will be forever changed.
Proverbs 14:4 – Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but from the strength of an ox comes an abundant harvest.
Part 1 Understand the verse.
I was reading this verse several years ago, and it literally changed my entire mindset about financial management. Perhaps it is because I grew up on a farm and connected with the talk about farm animals and equipment. Maybe it is because I am continually learning more about finances. Whatever the reason I like this verse, I promise you that it can completely change your finances!
Think about your ability to work. No matter how strong you are, how much energy you have, or how determined you may be, there is only so much work you can do. There is only one you. You can work more hours. You can work 20 hours per day, but you will reach a limit.
As a farmer, there is only so much you can do. Help is required to accomplish more. With oxen, so much more can be accomplished. They are STRONGER than you are. They have MORE ENDURANCE than you do. They even have SKILLS you don’t have (ever attempted to pull a barn by yourself?)
TRUTH: To accomplish more financially, you will need oxen to help you.
We’ll talk about that in Part Two.
I Was Broke. Now I’m Not. APP
I’m excited to announce that our APP has been updated to include the most requested feature – The ability to sync your budgets across multiple phones/devices!
Our APP is available FREE for all Apple mobile products including iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad as well as all Android mobile products!
Download the APP now:
