What Happens When You Don't Milk The Cows?

doug-milking-cows My friend, Leon Drennan, grew up on a 160-acre Kentucky farm. Along with tobacco and hogs, they had a small dairy. The cows had to be milked every day, twice a day, 365 days per year, every year. So before school and after school, in rain-sleet-snow, on birthdays and even on Christmas, it was trudge through the mud and manure (have you ever seen a dairy farm?) to the barn to milk the cows.

I asked Leon what happens when you don’t milk the cows. Best case, they dry up and quit producing milk. Worse case, they get mastitis that if not treated can lead to death. That’s why milking is an everyday job.

Sound familiar? Life works the same way. Life is an everyday job and there are some things that have consequences if you skip a day or two—sooner or later you dry up, or worse.

Leadership is an everyday job. Leaders can’t have bad days at the office or store or church or wherever.

Relationships are an everyday job. They dry up easily…or worse.

Your health is an everyday job. Just have a three-Five-Guys-cheeseburger day and see what the scales say the next morning.

Your relationship with God is an everyday job. Do you think “I’m too busy today for you, God” actually works with Him?

Your ____________ (you fill in the blank) is an everyday job.

In every dimension of life, if we start taking days off, we begin to dry up, or worse…. And yes, that means some days we have to trudge through the mud and manure to get to the barn or office or church or dinner table or whatever.

Now, I am not trying to make life all drudgery and all work. There is great joy and satisfaction in a job well done when the cows are milked, when a relationship is fulfilling, when your health is good, and when you feel the smile of God’s favor on your life. But these things don’t just happen—they take some time and effort. So rather than dry up or worse, milk your cows every day; you’ll be glad you did.

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