Spirit-Filled Worker Series – Lesson 2

Spirit-Filled Worker Series – Lesson 2

Lessons from the Ant - Part 2
Proverbs 6:6-8, Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.

The ant's entire life, which can range up to seven years, is spent working. The ant is the most industrious of all social insects. There are over 11,000 different species of ants. They live in colonies numbering from a few to over 20 million. There are approximately 1 quadrillion ants in the world (10,000,000,000,000,000). Ants are so numerous that scientists say that if all the ants in the Amazon rain forests were weighed, they would weigh four times more than all the other species of mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, living in that area, combined!

Solomon tells the lazy man to learn an important lesson from the ant in preparation. Preparation involves educating yourself, either by inquiring, getting counsel, or going to school. If you have a teachable spirit you can learn something and better prepare yourself. It’s the ones that think they know it all who continually have problems. One does not have to have a degree to be wise. Some of the wisest people I know are those who are honest and hard workers and complete their tasks. Being fixed on a goal or purpose helps us to be steadfast and not to quit in the preparation process. The importance of being ready, or prepared, is a motivation to finish our preparation. When we are prepared, it gives us stability, or confidence, to do the task at hand.

The Bible teaches the same message hundreds of years before Aesop’s fable of the Grasshopper and the Ant. Aesop describes how an ant passed by a grasshopper who was "chirping and singing to its heart's content." The grasshopper urged the ant to stop and talk. But the ant replied, "I am helping to lay up food for the winter and recommend you to do the same." The grasshopper, thinking he had "plenty of food," responded, "Why bother about winter?" But when winter came, the ant had enough food and even could help others. But the grasshopper "found itself dying of hunger." The moral to this story is to be wise and prepare for the future. The Bible urges us to learn from creatures like the ant, to look ahead. Not to waste opportunities but to plan, to save and to prepare.

Are you wasting opportunities in your life? Has God given you the ability to do something for Him, but you are letting it waste away because of doubt in yourself or in God? Is there someone you need to speak to about the Lord, but you have put it off?" Ask God to help you be a better planner, prepared for the future. And faithful with the time, talent and treasure He has given you. Don't waste your opportunities! Do what the Lord wants you to do NOW!

Prayer: Lord, give me wisdom that I might be prepared for the future. Open my eyes and help me to be a better steward of the resources You have given me. In Jesus' name. Amen.

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