Ants are one of God’s most interesting creatures.  Due to the nuisance of their presence in unwanted areas and the pain that comes when they bite to hold on and then insert their venom as they sting, ants are not the most popular of God’s creatures.  Still, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn’t know or has at least heard of the “working” ant.  Ant communities are headed by a queen or queens whose function in life is to lay thousands of eggs to ensure the survival of the colony.  Workers (the ants typically seen by humans) are wingless females that never reproduce but instead, forage for food, care for the queen’s offspring, work on the nest, protect the community, and perform many other duties.  Even Solomon understood the hardworking virtue of the ant and the fact that they didn’t have to be begged to get to work.

“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.”

Proverbs 6:6-8

Even in Solomon’s day, he understood that the instinct of this industrious insect shamed lazy humanity.  Unfortunately, our society has become increasingly passive.  We suffer from a fatal lack of initiative.  We concede far too often to the habit of procrastination and, as a result, have become oblivious to the consequences.  Our lives are filled with indifference as we frantically try to figure out how to do just enough to get by.  Laziness has become an epidemic in the kingdom and among Christians.

I remember very well the work habits of my parents and grandparents.  They may not have been the smartest individuals in the world, making millions for their knowledge of medicine or the space program.  They may not have been the most famous celebrities on the planet, raking in cash for the latest hit song or silver screen fascination.  They may not have been the slick politician, hopping onto private jets and soaring off to the next campaign stop.  But they were hard workers and that makes all the difference in the world.

For as long as I can remember, my dad has worked hard in the field of radio management and entertainment, even selling insurance for a short time.  My mom worked as a seamstress at Toombs County Manufacturing and Cedar Crossing Manufacturing.  My maternal grandfather worked at King Shrimp Company in Brunswick, drove a school bus and served the Wal-Mart corporation in the garden center for many years.  My grandmother raised nine kids, worked alongside her husband at King Shrimp and worked as a seamstress at Rosebud Manufacturing in Montgomery County.

There’s something very special about the generations leaving us.  They understood the satisfaction that comes from knowing that you’ve risen up early in the morning, given it your best shot and put in a good day’s work for an honest day’s wage.  What’s interesting to me is that those generations didn’t fill their conversations with excuses as to why they couldn’t get things done.  They served God, worked hard, found time for their families and showed up to serve in the local church.  Today, we’re lucky if we can find someone to help lock the doors and take out the trash.

Instead of working hard in school, students find it much easier to blame the teacher for not teaching it on “their level of understanding.”  Please don’t be offended.  I’m well aware that people learn in different ways and at different paces.  But it’s hard for me to believe that the teacher is the problem when you spend the entire class goofing off, talking with your friends and looking at the clock a million times to see how long class has left.  Instead of volunteering your initiative to help the local church grow and run smoothly, it’s much easier to blame the pastor.  After all, a win reflects our teamwork while a loss reflects the need for a pastoral change.  Instead of learning the importance of honoring your father and mother, it’s much easier to blame your parents and accuse them of being monsters.  When I was a kid, we didn’t have gripe sessions that screamed about how our parents didn’t understand us.  Your options were simple: honor and obey your parents or be punished by a good old South Georgia spanking or lose the things you love through restriction.

In a world where so many inventions have been provided to save us time, it seems that we have no time anymore…unless it’s something we prefer.  The time that you give to your personal relationship with Jesus is important.  The time that you give your family is important.  The time that you give your local church is important.  Unfortunately, too many are using the cares of this life as excuses when it comes to these three important facets of life.

Ants are to be admired for their work ethic.  They’re also to be avoided because of their annoying propensity to bite and sting.  It’s pretty clear that the kingdom of God and our society is filled with ants.  Some work endlessly while some are…well…annoying.