“Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!” - Proverbs 6:6 (NIV).
In spite of its being one of the smallest creatures there is, the ant is one of the most industrious. Ant colonies are all over the world boasting spectacular anthills. Though a queen ant may live for decades the average worker and soldier ants only lasts for months at most. However, there life span is an amazing time of productivity with every hour lived with a certain focus.
For this reason, scripture has advised us to go to the ant and observe it. “It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest” (verse 7-8). This implies self motivation and planning to survive through scarcity. “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” (verse 9- 11). This implies a work ethic and answers the great question of our time, why there is so much poverty around us?
There are many theories one would find advanced why some nations are poor as others are rich. There could be many smart reasons given but none would deny that wherever we find prosperous communities hard work is part of such societies. The Netherlands with just a 17 million population is the seventeenth richest nation in the world. Their success has not come the easy way. The truth is that with a third of their country below sea level a quarter of Netherlands has been reclaimed from the sea. It takes a lot of work to achieve such a bold feat.
The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica, “Even while we were with you, we gave you this command: “Those unwilling to work will not get to eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:20). Prosperity does not come by chasing fantasies. Rather we must be diligent as the ant. For just as it is written of the noble wife, “She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness” (Proverbs 31: 27).
Prayer for today: Lord Father God of creation, as I thank you for the gift of life, today I pray that I may use every single moment to glorify and worship you through work and experience your prosperity from the fruits of my labour.
Related upcoming events
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19/04/2024 - 20/04/2024 All day“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland” ( Isaiah 43:19).
Just before fire was unleashed down on Sodom and Gommorah, Lot was told to pack up with his wife and two daughters and leave their homestead. Now, once out of danger, “But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt” ( Gen 19:26). Perhaps here we might pause and ask why she was bothered to look back.
Of course it could have been that old “curiosity killed a cat” mistake! Yet, it could also have been Lot’s wife was not sure where she was going and longed for her old life back. This is a common error. There was nothing stirring to look back. Just before Lot’s neighbors had attacked his house eager to rape his visitors. “They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them” ( vv 5). Was there anything worth looking back to!
The case of Lot’s wife could be anyone else’s experience. The Lord has plucked you out of some mess. You have been delivered to a new life. Yet, somehow you decide to look back, as though there was anything good and worth longing for. Sometimes it is a bitter past you have been delivered from. Other than rejoice in your new blessings you keep being drawn back!
A wise caution goes, “As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly” ( Proverbs 26:11). If the Lord has just led you out of a certain mess why look back like it was much better! Instead look ahead, for “he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick: Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past” ( vv 17- 18).
Prayer today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, I thank you for delivering me from the darkness of the past and I look forward to a bright new future in you, this I pray in Jesus’ name!
