BoUT tHAt (AnT) LiFe

You got to love Proverbs 6:6-8. Every time I get challenged with the seasons I go through, this scripture offers almost immediate comfort and re-focusing. It reads: "Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest."

There's no shame in saying that you have no idea what that means. It's one of those times in reading your Bible that context is very necessary. The verses that precede it could help shed some light on what this harsh sounding rebuke is coming from. Verses 1-5 read:

"My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger, you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth. So do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor's hands: Go to the point of exhaustion, and give your neighbor no rest! Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids. Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler."

I don't know about you but that helps make the picture much clearer. If we continue in laziness and a sedentary spiritual and natural life, we are at the mercy of other people. We are prone to be victims to their decisions because we balked at making enough of them for ourselves.

This sounds strangely like a father warning his son against being lazy and slothful. Perhaps the father possesses a great many things and he desires to pass the profitable business down to his son but fears that he will waste the opportunity due to a lack of desire and strong work ethic. Commentaries teach us that when poverty is entertained even in the slightest, it becomes too strong to overcome and we are overtaken. They also teach us that it is our duty to be diligent in business affairs, not so that we are wealthy and able to lord our good fortune over the heads of others but that we are not an unnecessary burden to others or be proponents of scandal in your communities.

In this scenario, the ant makes us look pretty bad. Look at it down to the basics. This ant has no one looking over their shoulder offering advice, no guide on which direction they should go, no one to call the ant to account, or to offer correction when they go astray. They do everything according to their natural instinct. They provide for what is needed regardless of the external environment around them and what might be commonly done in their midst. They are diligent to work and they don't break pattern. They don't "forget" their duty. They are tireless workers. They are not subject to compromise and slackness. How often have you heard of a starving ant?

In contrast, we as humans have overseers (supervisors, pastors, parents, etc.), guides and mentors, life coaches and disciplers, teachers and all manner of leadership. We have means to receive correction and inspiration where we need it. We have access to resources and programs and opportunities under the proviso that we can get up off the proverbial (and literal) couch to seek. The ant doesn't have GPS navigation or a car to get to the nearest grocery store for supplies. They get out of the hole and seek. They look. They smell. They sense. They work. It feels embarrassing for the father to tell the son "Look at the example of the ant! Follow the example of the insect!"

There's an old saying that my dearly departed mother in law stated often "You don't miss your water until your well runs dry." It is applicable to marital relationships, family connections, or your status in the workplace, your local church, or your community. It's a metaphor for the idea that you have taken something or someone for granted. It means you don't know what you have until it's gone.

What may come to mind for you in this moment is your job and your need for more money but the countless times you may have squandered the opportunity or maybe just how you have mishandled opportunities to launch that business that's been on your heart or even something as simple as not helping your spouse with normal household duties. All those are suitable and certainly applicable but what I would offer is the idea that maybe we have become lazy in our spiritual lives as well. How do we intend to correct that? Go to the ant. Consider his ways and be wise!