BUG WISDOM
Proverbs 6:6-11 NLT
Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and be wise! Even though they have no prince, governor or ruler to make them work, they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter. But you lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up? I want you to learn a lesson: A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little more folding of the hands to rest—and poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.
I love the example God gives us of the ants. I have always enjoyed watching little ants scurry about, in their diligent search for food. What productive, diligent little creatures God made, to teach us one of life’s most valuable lessons.
What a description of the life to aspire to. No prince over your life to order you around, no governor or ruler telling you what to do. Instead, you see a self-motivated creature, who knows what needs to be done, leading itself and doing it.
The little ant doesn’t need a command structure, ordering him around. He knows he won’t eat in the future if he doesn’t gather food now, storing it up for the tough months ahead. The ant not only exemplifies a wonderful, diligent, self-motivated work ethic, but also the self-restraint not to eat, nor spend everything he gathers now, but instead he saves and stores some of his food for future needs. Ever notice how the little ant makes good use of whatever it finds for food? Might be an orange peel, a seed, or another dead bug! No, I’m not advocating we start eating dead bugs. I’m advocating making wise use of everything, letting nothing go to waste. I’m advocating Bug Wisdom!
Isn’t it easy to let the moments pass us by? It’s easy to lazily drift through life, a little extra sleep, more time to play, eat up, or spend all we have, and wham, with all the violence described by God in this scripture, poverty pounces on us, crushing us with stress. Scarcity and want choke and attack us with brutal force.
This picture God gives us is both beautiful and scary. I hate scarcity and impoverishment. I hate the fruits of laziness and unpreparedness. I learned this through my own set of extremely difficult circumstances as a young man. I discovered in the brutal arena of life how extremely important it was to imitate the ant, to make the most of every opportunity God gave me to make an income, to wisely store some of that income for future needs, to live with wise self-restraint, and to prepare and wisely plan, making good use of everything I have or come across.
I hate the violence of poverty. The pain of hunger. The vexing stress that scarce finances can put on our life.
Laziness is endemic in our culture. Most aspire to and pursue a life of leisure. People are extremely lazy with their health. They are extremely lazy in taking responsibility for their lives, to make the utmost of every opportunity given to them by God to make the most of their life, their time, and their finances. There is little self-restraint, little self-motivation. As a result, we see impoverished people, with impoverished physical and spiritual health. We see extremely poor financial health and instability everywhere.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Let’s derive every possible lesson we can from the ant, learn from their ways, and wisely apply those lessons to our lives.
There will always be setbacks. But once again, the ant teaches a valuable lesson. I can sweep away their ant hill, bury all the work they just did, then go back in a few hours and it’s all rebuilt. In fact, it can rain and flood their little dirt homes with torrential rain, turning them to mud. Come back a few hours later and there they are back at it, rebuilding their little ant homes and tunnels once again. Undaunted, undeterred, they rebuild their lives all over again. Ants are amazing little creatures given to us by God to teach us some of life’s most valuable lessons. What would your life be like if you were like the ant? Don’t let yourself miss the lessons of Bug Wisdom!
Helping you become a Strong Disciple,
Because of Jesus,
Pastor Mark Darling
