By: Tyler Montgomery
When you think of an ant, you tend to think of something small, something that can be easily stepped on or squished, and something most people find a pest. In the Bible however, we hear a different side of the ant. In Proverbs Chapter 6, we are given an illustration of a Sluggard (aka. Lazy) Man and an Ant. The passage reads “Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, Which having no captain, overseer or ruler, Provides her supplies in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest. How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep. So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, And your need like an armed man.” (Proverbs 6:6-11) Based on this passage, an ant is not simply an animal that can be easily stepped on, but an insect we need to strive to imitate. We see in this passage that an ant is considered to be wise as well as having integrity and a work ethic. In a colony of ants, if an ant does not work, they are either killed or thrown out of the colony. We can see, not as gruesome, but similar examples of this in Matthew 25, where Jesus begins telling the parables of “The Wise and Foolish Virgins” and “The Talents.” Both of these can be compared to our ant scenario. The virgins who prepared and the men who used their talents for good showed integrity, their work ethic, and that they were prepared for the coming bridegroom or lord of the land. However, we can see the virgins who were not prepared, as well as the man who did not use his talents for good works, were late, unprepared, and even, in the man’s case, had his talent taken away. If we do not prepare for the judgement day with integrity, and work for the kingdom of God, we will be thrown out of Heaven, much like a lazy ant. Circling back to the given passage in Proverb 6, The first thing we can see in the passage is that it tells this sluggard to GO to the ant, and not to BE like the ant, so instead of just immediately copying the ant, it could be seen that we are meant to watch, learn, meditate, and then imitate the ant, applying it’s working ways to our Christian lives. Change needs to come with the understanding of why you are changing. Continuing in the passage, we find it saying in verse 7 and 8, “Which, having no captain, Overseer or ruler, Provides her supplies in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest.” This sluggard has a ruler while the ant does not! This further emphasizes our need for integrity when working in the Kingdom of God. We have our “Captain, Overseer, or Ruler,” and that is God. Now, we might immediately start thinking “Well, don’t ants have a queen?” The only true purpose of a queen ant is to lay the eggs for the colony. The workers do not take orders from her, nor do they obey her. They do their own work without anyone commanding or overseeing them! Further looking into verse 8, we can see that the ant gathers her supply in the summer for the coming winter months. Let’s look at this very quickly. The summer would represent the lives we are living now here on earth; we work, we gather knowledge, gather souls for the kingdom of God, and prepare ourselves for what? The winter, that is, Judgement Day. For those who don’t prepare, similar to “The Wise and Foolish Virgins” discussed earlier, they will be shut out of the wedding, further cutting them off from the bridegroom who they were told to prepare for. After verse 8, it seems that the story of the ant just ends. Well, given what the proverb writer gave us on an ant, that is kind of all there is to an ant. They are born and work until they die, that’s all an ant does! It is in the ants’ nature to work, survive and then die. The ant has no end goal, no mansion waiting over the hilltop for when it dies, and no creator to comfort it after working for its relatively short life. Flipping that statement to us today, WE have a goal! We have that promise of peace with our Creator in Heaven. And if we are this lazy, indolent, slothful and sluggish person, then we cannot work For Our God. Further preventing us from receiving that gift from God. As we continue, verse 9 says, “How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep?” The proverb writer leaves us a very powerful passage not only for those in Christ, but also for those of the world as well. For those in Christ, are you serving God with integrity and diligence? If not, when will you start working for the God you serve? When will you STAND UP and be the light to the world that Christ calls you to be? (John 8:12) And for those in the world, why do you still reside with the world? WHY do you slumber and remain in your sins? Judgement day is coming; will you choose to be prepared for the winter? Or will you choose to be slothful, lazy, and get yourself kicked out of the colony when the winter does inevitably come? And if we continue, verses ten and eleven, “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep. So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler. And your need like an armed man.” If we let our guard down for even a moment of “rest” in this world, our sin will devour our lives, and we will die in them. Sin is the boot that will stomp on you, kick your colony, and throw rocks at you just to get a reaction. God has armed you with the knowledge you need to fight this sin, to remove this slothfulness from your life and to do good and diligent work for the Lord. An ant’s purpose is to work for the colony, but an ant’s power shows their willingness and devotion to that colony. A Christian’s job is to do the same.