Young People's Group

“Go to the Ant You Sluggard!”

by Mitchell Tan
March 18, 2021

WISDOM CAN BE LEARNT FROM ANYWHERE INCLUDING NATURE

One of the things that we can do to gain wisdom is to learn from the observations of life. In the book of Proverbs, wisdom is personified as someone calling out to others to learn from her. She cries out to people from the “chief concourses” and at “the opening of the gate” (Proverbs 1:20-21). Wisdom can be learnt from anywhere. It can be learnt from the humble yet hard working ant.

THE PROBLEM OF BEING A LAZY PERSON

“How long will you slumber, O sluggard?
When will you rise from your sleep?
A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to sleep–
So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler,
And your need like an armed man.”
Proverbs 6:9-11

One common problem that is contra-distinction to hard work is laziness. A sluggard is a lazy fool who is pre-occupied with sleeping. It starts with him wanting to find excuses to prolong his sleep. His indolence leads him to having an unfruitful life. He does not prepare for the future at all. As such, he has absolutely nothing to fall back on in life. Poverty and shame will come suddenly on him like a prowler. The lazy man will not plow during winter; he will beg during harvest and have nothing (Proverbs 20:4). We reap nothing when we have not sown “hard work”.

THE CHALLENGE TO BE HARDWORKING

1. PONDER AND CHOOSE PRUDENTLY

“Go to the ant, you sluggard!
Consider her ways and be wise”
Proverbs 6:6

When people have a problem with laziness, correction is most required. They need to “wake up” and deal with their laziness. And one of the ways to do this is to look at how ants work. King Solomon challenged his readers to go and observe how ants work as a colony. These are tiny ants and yet they can work harder than humans do. We should seriously ponder the ways of the ant and see the need to “wise up”. The challenge is to choose to be wise and not be a lazy fool.

2. PERSONAL CULTIVATION OF DILIGENCE

“Which having no captain,
Overseer or ruler …”
Proverbs 6:7

Ants do not need to have others supervising them in terms of their work. They instinctively know what to do. They have been created by God to be such. They automatically know how to work hard. However, human beings do not instinctively know how to work hard. It has to be cultivated. They have to learn how to have personal responsibility. They must learn to be accountable to God.

3. PLAN FOR THE FUTURE

“… Provides her supplies in the summer,
And gathers her food in the harvest.”
Proverbs 6:8

Ants work hard because they are constantly “planning” for the future. During the harvest time, they gather food and store it up. They stock up during summer; all ready for winter. During the lean months, they have more than enough.

We too need to learn to plan for the future and work hard now. The hand of the diligent makes rich (Proverbs 10:4). We can anticipate the Lord God to bless in the future as we pray and work hard as students. Let’s learn to “sow” diligence so that we can reap the fruits of our labour. Let’s plan wisely for the future.

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