“Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise.” — Proverbs 6:6
This week our children and Junior Church have been learning about the ant — and what a teacher she turns out to be. Solomon points us to one of the smallest creatures in creation and says: watch her, and grow wise.
The ant has no captain, no overseer, no one standing over her with a list of jobs (Proverbs 6:7). And yet she works. She gathers in the summer and stores up at harvest, quietly preparing for the season ahead (6:8). She doesn’t wait to be told. She doesn’t put it off. She simply does the next faithful thing.
There’s a gentle challenge here for all of us, not only the little ones. How easily we say “just a little more sleep, a little more folding of the hands” (6:10) — a little more delay, a little more putting off what we know we ought to do. Whether it’s a kindness we’ve meant to show, a prayer we’ve meant to pray, a job we’ve been avoiding, or a relationship we’ve let drift, the ant reminds us that small, steady faithfulness is its own kind of wisdom.
So as the children have learned this week, may we learn alongside them: to work willingly, to prepare wisely, and to trust that the quiet, ordinary things we do today are building something that lasts.
A prayer
Loving Father, thank you for the wisdom you hide in small and ordinary things. Help us, like the ant, to work willingly and faithfully, to do the next good thing without delay, and to trust that our quiet, daily efforts are precious in your sight. Give us the diligence of the wise and the gladness of those who serve you.
Amen.
