Articles
Consider the Ant
Despite all of man’s fantastic, technical inventions God has always used little things to confound us. For example, Solomon writes to us about four little creatures (Prov. 6:6-8). One of those little creatures is the ant. Solomon says, “Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways, and be wise, which, having no captain, no overseer or ruler, provides her supplies in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest.” Just what kind of lessons can we learn from the ant?
From the ant we learn the need for self-discipline. The ant has no one to say, “This is what you have to do. Make sure it is done this way.” There is no one that comes along and lays out every detail of the job. Nobody stands over the ant to make sure she completes each job. There is no one always checking to see if the job is done right. She has no one to prod; no ruler to punish. The self-discipline of the ant is a characteristic we all need.
Also, the ant teaches us why it’s necessity to be diligent, industrious, and use foresight. No ant is born tired; there are no slackers among them. The ant never says, “A little sleep and a little slumber.” They do not procrastinate by saying, “I’m going to do the job. I’m going to get it done, just not this moment.” We never hear her make excuses about why she cannot do this or that (Prov. 6:13). At the proper season she will collect her food. She collects her food when it is most plenteous, in the harvest, with a view to it being consumed when she cannot work.
Aesop tells this story about the ant and the grasshopper: “One frosty autumn day an ant was busily storing away some of the kernels of wheat which he had gathered during the summer to tide him over the coming winter. A grasshopper, half perishing from hunger, came limping by. Perceiving what the industrious ant was doing, he asked for a morsel from the ant’s store to save his life. ‘What were you doing all during the summer while I was busy harvesting?’ the ant inquired. ‘Oh,’ replied the grasshopper, ‘I was not idle. I was singing and chirping all day long.’ ‘Well,’ said the ant, smiling grimly as he locked his granary door, ‘since you sang all summer, it looks as though you would have to dance all winter.’ ” The moral is, “It is thrifty to prepare today for the wants of tomorrow.”
Unlike the grasshopper, the ant sleeps and is not anxious about her provisions; she has worked in the time of work and therefore can rest when it is time to rest. She has made adequate preparation for the winter. Also, the ant does not store up food where it can be robbed. We should learn from her that we, too, should lay up treasures in a safe place (Mt. 6:19-20), and that now is the time for us to work (Jn. 9:4).
Do we have the ant’s sense of urgency or has it been replaced with complacency?
