"God 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."
Proverbs 6:6-8
Part 1
Today: Feeling Lazy? Visit the Ants!
Watching ants was something that many of us enjoyed during summertime in childhood, tracing their trails to and from their nest. Seeing their tenacity to get where they need to go. Marveling at their loyalty to their colony when another kind of ant came near. It was a childhood dream to carry things much larger than me like the ants did. Solomon said we can learn much from watching the ants.
“Go to the ant, thou sluggard.”
“Thou Sluggard.”[1]
The consistent quality of the “sluggard” is his “sluggishness” or “laziness.”[2] He’s the expert at cutting corners by making hundreds of complicated little choices that make his life easier every day. These things only show his lazy bent. He or she needs God’s help from His Word and a good study of ants. Sluggards seriously need God’s help to change their character, although convincing them of that is almost impossible.
“Go to the Ant.”
“To the ant the sluggard… is sent, to learn from her to be ashamed, and to be taught wisdom”[3] (K&D).
Why this comparison of the ant and the sluggard?
“The point of comparison with the ant is not so much the foresight of the insect as its unwearied activity during the appointed season, rebuking man’s inaction at a special crisis (Proverbs 6:4)”[4] (Barnes).
“Consider her ways and be wise.”
We need to give some thought to how ants work.
“The ants swarm in the woods and fields and rebuke our laziness and thriftlessness. They work day and night, storing their galleries with food, building mounds which relatively to the size of the builders are three or four times larger than the Pyramids. In sickness, they nurse one another; in the winter, they feed on their supplies. Learn from the ceaseless industry of Nature, and do something worthy before sundown!”[5] (Meyer).
Most people “workers” seem to need someone to manage them. Not so, the ants! Tomorrow we will look at the good work habits of an ant. Please come back then.
Quote:
“‘Tis the voice of the sluggard, I heard him complain:
‘You have waked me too soon, I must slumber again’;
As the door on its hinges, so he on his bed,
Turns his sides, and his shoulders and his heavy head” [6] (Isaac Watts).
[1] The topic of “the sluggard” is greatly needed to be studied today. Let me challenge you if you have not done a Bible study on “the sluggard” to do one. The Bible has a wealth of information about “the sluggard” and being lazy and how detrimental this is to the believer’s life. This study will be well worth your time.
[2] See Brown, Driver, Briggs. Brown-Driver-Briggs’ Hebrew Definitions, the electronic version in eSword.
[3] Keil & Delitzsch, Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament, the electronic version in eSword. Proverbs 6:6.
[4] Albert Barnes, Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, the electronic version in eSword. Proverbs 6:6.
[5] F.B. Meyer. Through the Bible Day by Day, the electronic version in eSword. Proverbs 6:1-19.
[6] Watt’s quote was Downloaded Friday, April 23, 2021. From: https://quotes.yourdictionary.com/sluggard.