Proverbs 6:6–8: 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.
Insight
A person can become financially destitute by laziness as well as by foolish dealings. Solomon was probably not calling his son a sluggard; he was speaking rhetorically to anyone who might hear or read the message. The Hebrew word for sluggard occurs 14 times in Proverbs and nowhere else in the Old Testament. It refers to more than laziness. A lazy, irresponsible person is challenged to learn from the ant and be wise. Ants, known for being industrious, are commended here for their initiative. Apparently ants have no leader—no commander to direct them, no overseer to inspect their work, no ruler to prod them on. Yet they work better than many people under a leader! Ants also work in anticipation of future needs, storing and gathering while it is warm, before winter comes. Those who act only when commanded do not possess wisdom. 1
Application
Being busy is not necessarily being virtuous. Being about Our Father’s business is. Start doing the right thing, for the right reason, with the right heart, with all diligence.
Motivation
Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Matthew 6:26
Being diligent, in the power of the Holy Spirit, is a practical way to be devoted to Christ. – TWEET IT
Prayer
Father, thank You for Your creation that reveals Your heart as a our Pastor/Teacher.
1. Walvoord, John F., & Zuck, R. B., Dallas Theological Seminary. (1985). The Bible Knowledge Commentary
