ANT WISDOM
Proverbs 6:6-11 NKJV
6 Go to the ant, you sluggard!
Consider her ways and be wise,
7 Which, having no captain,
Overseer or ruler,
8 Provides her supplies in the summer,
And gathers her food in the harvest.
9 How long will you slumber, O sluggard?
When will you rise from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to sleep—
11 So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler,
And your need like an armed man.
This message was designed for the lazy. The writer of Proverbs uses the word sluggard, and it is Proverbs that addresses the sluggard six times.
Very few people would admit that they are lazy, but allow me to pose a different perspective. Very few people are totally lazy, but many of us can be lazy in different areas of our lives. For example, some people are extremely fit physically and keep themselves in top shape. And yet, these same people can be a sluggard when it comes to their spiritual life. And some are on top of things spiritually but have become sluggardly as it pertains to their physical health. I am not pointing fingers. There are often many factors at play, but the answer for being lazy in any area is to go to the ant and learn.
Ant wisdom shows up in two areas. The first is that the ant is self-motivated. The ant has no captain, overseer, or ruler. There is no one telling the ant what to do. There is no outside force making the ant work. All of us can get the job done when we are forced to do so, but the wisdom of the ant is to be active when nothing is pushing us. Many people are not pushed by other people but they are pushed and motivated by negative circumstances. I am well aware that negative circumstances in our lives can push us toward God, and that’s good. The wisdom of the ant says I am pursuing my relationship with God when things are bad and when things are good. I am motivated from within, not from outside forces.
The second area of ant wisdom is that ants do what needs to be done when it needs to be done. They prepare in the summer and gather in harvest. They do not procrastinate. If the ant did not prepare in the summer, they would not be gathering in the harvest. If the ant did not gather in the harvest time, they would still wind up lacking.
The author of the proverbs moves away from the ant but is still talking to the sluggard in verses 9-11. When you first read these verses, you would think the author is making a case for not getting enough sleep. I don’t believe the author is advocating sleep deprivation but rather not making sleep and comfort the end goal. The sluggard is looking for comfort, the easy path. The sluggard gets plenty of sleep, but the goal of sleep is recovery so that energy can be exerted in the day with preparing and gathering.
Too much sleep, too much rest lead to not doing what needs to be done. And poverty will break into your life and need will force itself on you. Again, we must look at this from the different aspects of our life. Look at activity and end goals in our spiritual, relational, vocational, and physical arenas of life. We can be diligent in some areas and sluggardly in other areas. The good news is if an ant can do it, we can do it. The end result of applying ant wisdom is flourishing instead of floundering—abundance instead of lack.
PRAYER
Lord, reveal to me any area where I have acted like the sluggard instead of the ant.