Spirit-Filled Worker Series – Lesson 2

Today’s devotion is an excerpt from a Bible Study Series taught at Fellowship Baptist Church, titled “Spirit-Filled Worker.”

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 (1,000,000,000,000,000). 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!

There are a number of important elements in these verses about the ant. The lazy person is to consider the wisdom of this insect. Some are so lazy they won't even do this. The ant, without anyone telling him what to do, prepares for the future winters by gathering food in the summer. 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. Proverbs 6:6-11 compares the lazy man and the busy ant. The ant never seems to be still. The ant displays its discipline, it never wastes a minute. Slothfulness or laziness will for sure lead to misfortune and ruin. Here we notice the ant and the sluggard.

1. We are to examine the "sluggard" to learn a lesson from the ant. In her "ways", the ant manifests industry and foresight. The ant is not forced to toil by ruthless rulers and cruel taskmasters to store up provisions. Yet the ant is busy throughout the summer, and especially during the harvest, gathering her "bread" (food) for the winter. The point here is that the natural impulse is to care for oneself, to exercise foresight in preparing for the future. Even the humble insects have that much sense.

2. We are encouraged to get up by daybreak. Sleeping into the waking hours of the day is seen as a serious error in character. The sluggard always pleads for a little more rest, a little more "folding of the hands". Apparently, the common attitude of rest was to lay on one's back with the hands folded upon the chest (Proverbs 6:9-10). There can be no escape from poverty for such a lazy person (Proverbs 6:11). Therefore, we are encouraged to rise up early and get to work.

This describes a lazy person as one who:
(1) Neglects tasks that he or she should do (Proverbs 6:9-10; Proverbs 22:13).
(2) Does not finish what he or she started (Proverbs 12:27).
(3) Follows the least difficult course of action, always taking the easy way (Proverbs 20:4).

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 could even help others. But the grasshopper "found itself dying of hunger”. The moral of 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. Spiritual laziness is even more tempting than physical laziness. God calls us to search for His purposes for us with great passion and enthusiasm (II Peter 1:10. II Corinthians 8:7; II Peter 1:5).

Questions to Consider:
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?

Points to Ponder:
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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Thank you for reading Lesson 2 of Spirit-Filled Worker Series. Please visit this website tomorrow for Lesson 3 of Spirit-Filled Worker Series.