An Ant's Life

February 22

Leviticus 5-6

Psalm 25:8-15

Proverbs 6:6-8

Mark 2

An Ant’s Life

“Go to the ant, O sluggard, observe her ways and be wise, which having no chief, officer or ruler, prepares her food in the summer and gathers her provision in the harvest,”  Proverbs 6:6-8 LSB

We can learn much from the life of the ant.  The ant is industrious, diligent, organized and cooperative.  They work hard and prepare for the future.  They are tenacious and persevere even when the going is tough.  If something doesn’t work or they face an obstacle they keep trying till they figure out another way.  They never give up.  Ants rise to a challenge.  They are not lazy and their hands are not idle.  There are scriptures throughout the Bible that talk about the importance of hard work and diligence.  There is no place in the life of the believer for laziness.  We are responsible for how we use the time God has given us.  “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of Yahweh your God.”  Exodus 20:9-10 LSB  God expects us to work hard six days every week and then have a day of worship and rest.  He knows that our bodies need time to rest and recuperate, but He also knows that we need to work.  Our bodies and minds were not designed to lay around and be idle.  God designed us to be active and accomplish all that He created us to do.  He has plans for each of our lives and He expects us to be about His work.  That work will look different at different times in our lives.  Sometimes it will be  physical labor and sometimes more mental.  Some of the work we do will be to earn a living and provide for our families while some will be in service to others.  Our work may be studying and learning to grow and develop skills or it may be caring for children, grandchildren, teenagers,  elderly parents or loved ones God has placed in our lives.  As long as we have breath, God has work for us to do.  He will lead us each day as we seek His guidance in the best use of our time.  Hobbies and leisure activities are not bad or an irresponsible use of our time as long as we are making sure we are not neglecting our responsibilities when we do them.  God blesses us with opportunities to do things we enjoy when we are meeting our responsibilities and being faithful with our time. 

            Another lesson we can learn from the ant is the importance of community.  Ants don’t live alone.  They live with other ants in a community.  They work together and cooperate to accomplish their goals.  They help each other out and combine resources to survive.  As believers we should remember that God designed us to live in community and work together to spread the gospel.  When the world sees us loving each other, cooperating and helping each other through life, and then extending that love to them, they will want to be a part of that community.