Be a Pest

            There seems to be ant hills all over the place in Florida.  They are certainly not as prevalent in Arkansas, but still present.  You would think it was the end of the world when a child steps in an ant bed, and I should say rightfully so.  Ants can cause some serious pain; just ask my wife who stepped on an ant hill the day before our wedding!  While it can be fun to mow over ant hills or have an ant farm in a glass case, they are a nuisance the rest of the time.  Who would have thought that a childhood foe had so much to teach about wisdom?

Much can be learned about labor from the hardworking ant.  “Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest” (Proverbs 6:6-9, ESV).  Stephen Covey says being proactive is one of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.  This means to be an effective person in this world a person has to get out there and happen to things rather than waiting for things to happen to them.  This is exactly what the ant does.  She gets out and prepares for the winter while the weather is warm in order to survive the cold.

The USA is in an interesting dilemma.  As Joe Wright said in the opening prayer at a session of the Kansas House of Representatives in 1996, “We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.”  What a bold statement.  This is not to say that there are people who do not need financial assistance.  How many of the millions on welfare are simply milking the cow for all it’s worth?  

It is not for me to judge the heart of any person, I’ll leave that between the individual and God.  It is up to each of us to evaluate ourselves on a daily basis.  “How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man” (Proverbs 6:10–11).  A lazy Christian is an oxymoron.  There is no such thing, laziness and Christianity cannot coexist.  So if you are lazy, you better check yourself!