BE LIKE AN ANT

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

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.

How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep?

A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man. A troublemaker and a villain, who goes about with a corrupt mouth, who winks maliciously with his eye, signals with his feet and motions with his fingers, who plots evil with deceit in his heart—he always stirs up conflict.

Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant; he will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy.

Proverbs 6:6-15

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Proverbs, Chapter 6, focuses on behavior that is considered folly in the Old Testament, foolish actions that are seen as inappropriate and foolish. We have looked at two already, placing yourself at risk by agreeing to pay the debt of another in the case they cannot pay and adultery.

Today, we cover the third behavior mentioned and that is laziness.

I have to say that I feel this is a real epidemic today. Where people used to strive to work to earn what they get, today they look for the easy way to live, either seeking entitlement or looking for illicit ways to take money from those who work hard to earn it.

Now before anyone starts to see their blood pressure rise from these words, realize that I, and the scriptures, are talking about people who are fully able to work and choose to lie around and look for every conceivable form of welfare possible. They would rather have someone else support them than get up and labor themselves. Many of them will use the poor job market as an excuse and, in some cases, that might be legitimate. But I think there are jobs to be had out there, no matter where you are and there might be a time when a person might need to work two jobs to make ends meet. I can recall at least one time in my life when I did. It wasn’t fun and I felt like all I was doing was working and sleeping but I had the satisfaction of knowing I was getting my bills paid and making ends meet. Soon, I was able to find a full time job and get back to some sense of normalcy.

The truth of the matter is that too many people are just not willing to even try. They say they do but most of the time it’s just a token effort. They really have no interest in trying because it’s so nice to be at home and not do anything, especially when the government is so willing to provide nice benefits, benefits by the way that come from people who are working. People want someone else to do the work so they can enjoy the fruits of the labor. Unfortunately, government plays a big role in enabling this kind of behavior, especially in the United States.

Our scripture has a name for those who choose laziness over employment. The name is sluggard. Look at the words of Solomon about the lazy who lived in his time:

How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep?

A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man. A troublemaker and a villain, who goes about with a corrupt mouth, who winks maliciously with his eye, signals with his feet and motions with his fingers, who plots evil with deceit in his heart—he always stirs up conflict.

Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant; he will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy.

  

Solomon speaks some sensibility into the matter of laziness. For as soon as a person gets comfortable in sleeping and slumbering, laying around inactive and non-productive, lethargy will creep in and start to convert one into a sluggard or, as the dictionary defines, one who is habitually lazy. It feels so good just hanging out without having to put out effort to toil for income but the end result of this is poverty. Nothing out means nothing in. And when nothing comes in, a sluggard will try and figure out how they can find provision without having to earn it. In the most extreme instances, they will turn to some form of crime to produce gain. Plotting evil, a sluggard will look for an easy mark to either steal from or dupe to try and gain income. In some cases, they turn to selling drugs or some other illegal item to produce revenue.

The result of these courses of action is predictable. Hard work in a legitimate job is acceptable, permissible, encouraged by God’s word, and rewarding. Opting for illicit ways to find gain will only lead to, as Solomon puts it, disaster and destruction. It makes sense, right? God is not going to reward sin and any illegitimate, deceitful attempts to try to get ahead will only place someone behind.

The message is clear. Don’t be a sluggard. Refrain from laziness.

Be like an ant instead.

Why does Solomon use the ant as a counter to the sluggard?

Consider these qualities of an ant:

1. They are creatures of initiative.

“It has no commander, no overseer or ruler.”

An ant doesn’t need to have someone manage them, no one to drive them to get things done. They don’t rely on someone to wake them up and urge them to get going.

No, an ant is naturally driven to work and doesn’t need anyone else to do it for them. We should be the same.

2. They plan ahead and work for their future.

It (the ant) stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.

The ant knows that survival depends on having enough to live on, not just in the present, but in the future. And so the ant labors to ensure that they will have provision at all time.

Today, we find a lot of people lacking in their later years because they didn’t labor earlier to ensure their future provisions would be available. Indeed, a Department of Commerce study a few years ago found that 95 percent of all Americans were not financially prepared to retire. Having the right work attitude and ethic when you’re able to labor will allow yourself the opportunity to rest with plenty of provision when you have reached your life’s latter stages.

An ant is industrious and reaps what it sows. Whether we’re speaking about wages and earnings or laboring to reap treasures in heaven through our spiritual work, there’s little doubt that we are to do likewise.

So God’s word for us is to be like an ant.

It’s better than being a sluggard.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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