Proverbs 6:6-8

Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise! Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work, they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter.

Have you ever seen an ant taking a nap? Seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever observed an ant or a group of ants that were not constantly in motion, going to and fro, doing this and that. In short, ants are productive. They get their work done and they prepare for the future. Interestingly, ants have two stomachs – one for their own consumption and one for sharing with others. Can you see why Solomon chose to use them as an example?

There are three main lessons all of us can draw from their example: the need to be self-disciplined, the need to work hard, and the need to avoid procrastination. Ants don’t need someone over their shoulder constantly motivating or threatening them…and neither should the Christ follower. We should all strive to be more self-disciplined as self-control is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:23).

God made us to be workers and to be productive. The bible warns against laziness in no uncertain terms and exhorts us to approach our work as if we are working solely for our Creator and not for man (Col 3:23). And by the way – work in this context is not just at your job, but a general mindset of productivity (including work around the house) which usually means that we need to work hard. When we work, we should do it as an offering, and not with our leftovers or a weak effort like Abel, but with our best like Cain.

Christopher Parker once noted: “Procrastination is like the credit card. It`s a lot of fun until you get the bill.” The venerated Benjamin Franklin gives us apt advice: Never leave that till tomorrow that which you can do today. While a Christian should exercise a full reliance of God’s Providence, they must never shirk their responsibility to act and to do it promptly. Yes, that certainly pertains to the subject of work, but it can creep into many other areas of life as well. Are you quick to forgive? Quick to reconcile? Quick to turn away from temptation? It seems we have much to learn from the ant!