Insightful Musings on the Scripturesby
Ray Sparre, NU class of '67
Ray has a wealth of experience as a Husband, Father, Pastor, Missionary, and student of the Word. He believes and practices his faith where the rubber meets the road. You'll find his writings to be practical, insightful, and grounded in a truly Christ-centered world view.
Below are links to a printable daily Bible reading guide which Ray has followed, and an archive of all his daily devotional writings for 2010 and 2011.
| Daily Reading Guide | 2011 Devotion Archives | 2010 Devotion Archives |
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6 March 2011
Proverbs 6
Focus: “Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise.” Proverbs 6:6.
Let’s read on through verse 8: “It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.”
Ants can be a real nuisance to humans. I confess that I’ve slugged a bunch of them in our kitchen lately. Does that make me a SLUGGARD? They must be confused—it’s not even summer! I just wish they would go somewhere else to gather their food.
That probably has nothing to do with Solomon’s intent. And whether or not I am a lazy and irresponsible person (represented by the word SLUGGARD), there is value in observing some special qualities of these amazing little creatures. I’m thinking of three such qualities that Solomon may have had in mind: (1) HARD WORK. Work is a good thing. It’s a GOD THING. God is a Worker. And He has designed us to work. Work is good for exercise, for earning, and for emotional well-being. Few things are more perverse than a healthy human doing nothing yet expecting everything—or doing little yet expecting much. (2) PLANNING AND PREPARATION. The ant is only one example in the animal kingdom that has been instinctively programmed by the Creator to prepare in advance for the seasonal changes in ways essential for their survival. Not so with humans. Instead He has vested in man a capacity for intelligence and planning that is essential for his survival. (3) ORGANIZATION AND UNITY. While there are not necessarily task-masters within an ant community to control and dictate the work, there is incredible order, organization, and teamwork. That, of course, is required in any group enterprise. I can only imagine that if ants could formulate a kind of motto, it might be something like NO ANT IS AN ANT UNTO HIMSELF.
In the physical realm, I suppose a person could get away with being a perpetual successful SLUGGARD if someone else were to continually provide for him. But when it comes to planning and preparation for one’s eternal destiny, being a SLUGGARD is a recipe for certain doom.
I’m remembering something from my distant past. Someone pointed out that every church is made up of three kinds of members: the SHIRKERS—those who don’t work, the JERKERS—those who say they’ll work but don’t, or start to work and don’t finish, and the WORKERS—those who actually do the work faithfully. Another statistic would indicate that the last group usually make up less than 10% of the whole.
However we process all this, the quality of being a lazy irresponsible SLUGGARD is both unnecessary and to be avoided.
“Elbow grease gives the best polish.”