Proverbs 6:6-8, The Shirker in the School of the Ant
March 5, Proverbs 6:6-8
1 Cor. 3:1-15; Eph. 6:5-9 “Work, for the night is coming when man’s work is o’er.”
The Shirker in the School of the Ant
Proud Man is here sent to the inferior creation for some lessons on life, not to the greatest or noblest, but to the least, an insect, the ant! Why? It is a reproof for his spiritual indolence. Man, the crown of God’s creation, with his great intellect, is now so corrupted by sin that he must learn from ants! What can he learn from this little creature? Lesson One might be that the ant doesn’t act in opposition to the will of his Creator as does man.
- Its Application: Here is another Lesson. The ant stands as an example of zeal. It applies itself to its work without a boss (v.7). It has no guide, no overseer, no ruler. It is self-reliant, yet look at its industry. Look what it produces! How much work would we do without The Boss? How many are self-motivated to produce? How few take pride in their work today! Consider the ant. Each works according to its own nature. Each gets on with the job in hand, not waiting for instruction or guidance from another. What about us; how do we respect our work? What we do on the job will affect our testimonies and our effect as ambassadors for Christ. In the hay-day of the Belfast shipyards, a tourist once asked, “How many men worked here?” The quick-witted reply was, “About half!” There was more truth than fiction in that answer! Will you learn this lesson in the school of the ant? We are not to be clock-watchers, giving mere eye-service. We are to work as doing the will of God in shop or factory or school, not just while in church singing hymns.
- Its Anticipation: God has implanted in the ant an instinctive anticipation of the coming severity of winter. The ant works with an eye to this end (v.8), and applies itself to gathering a food-store while it is day. Do you labour for the rainy-day, the coming winter? Every life has its Day of opportunity, but a Night comes when no man can work (Jn. 5:17, 20; 9:4). Do you have an eye for that coming night, or do you keep putting-off thinking about it? Oh! The hours, days, lives, wasted in little delays; of souls lost by little delays! God’s Word, and the ant, teach you and me to anticipate the winter of the soul, this coming Night! God used Joseph to save Egypt, and Israel, by preparing in harvest-days for the years of coming famine. Are you making all needful preparations for that Winter? Happy is the person who has learned this Lesson in the school of the ant. To provide for our own is a Christian principle; to fail invites spiritual disaster (1 Tim. 5:8).
- Its Adaptation: The ant teachers another lesson. It not only gathers its food in harvest, but gathers the good that can only be obtained at each particular season. If this God-given opportunity is ignored, want and misery will be the result in its cells. The only season that you and I can make provision for the days that are coming, is this present life, right now. “Opportunity is the flower of time; or the most precious part of it, which, if once lost, may never return” (R. Walker). No one can do your work but you.
Thought: “The way to be nothing is to do nothing” (Anon).
Prayer: Lord, make me to count for something when the Night comes.