“You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing” (Deut 25:4). By applying this verse to pastors and elders (see 1 Cor 9:9; 1 Tim 5:17-18), Paul proved himself to be the ideal reader of the Torah. It was God, after all, who encouraged Israel to reflect upon his commandments as “divine wisdom” (Deut 4:6; see Prov 12:10) and that’s exactly what Paul was doing. If we need to care for the oxen working hard to provide us physical food, how much more should we care for people who work hard to provide us with spiritual food.
This commandment in Deuteronomy 25:4 can also be applied to the way we treat anyone who works hard to provide for our wellbeing. We “fulfill” and/or “violate” this commandment by the way we treat servers in restaurants, custodians and janitors, police officers and soldiers, our bosses, our employees, and most particularly by the way we treat our spouses.
In short, this verse is an important reminder we must never take for granted the people who serve us. So a first step in the right direction of “fulfilling” this verse is to stop and consider all the “muzzled” (unappreciated) people in our lives who bless us with food on our tables, protection from bad guys, good sermons, pastoral care, clean floors, etc. The next step is to actively seek ways to tangibly bless these people back, which starts by expressing words of heartfelt appreciation and thanks.
“Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET,’ and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Rom 13:8-10). “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil 2:3-5).
