In Consideration of the Ant

Every creature in this magnificent world around us possesses a unique set of traits that we can observe and learn from. Great opportunities lie at the doorsteps of those willing to learn from the hardworking ant. Go outside into your yard and look down. You might see a few ants scurrying around. No matter what color ants you observe, you will notice that they never stand still. In Proverbs 6:6-11 God chose ants to teach us a few things about the importance of work and the consequences of laziness.

Ants love to work. They take the initiative to store food in preparation for the oncoming seasons while maintaining an organized and timely schedule. Hard work lives in the spirit of the ant. In our world today we find that many owners of successful enterprises learned to succeed by putting ideas into action and working hard to accomplish the goals of the ideas. On the other end of the spectrum lies laziness. Slothful behavior stands for everything that goes against hard work. Couch potato types tend to put things off until the timely opening has permanently passed them by. People like these rarely get anywhere because they miss opportunities for further development. Poverty likes to prey on the indolent.

In my own dealings with laziness I have found proof that responsibility holds the key to success. Many times in the past I slept in and tried to get out of the day's work by simply pressing the snooze button on my alarm clock. At ten o'clock I would get up, put on some music, and try to forget my responsibilities. One day, not so long ago, I came face to face with the fact that I simply could not get my responsibilities done because I had mashed them into a ridiculously small timeframe. Since then I have made it a goal to wake up earlier and deal with my responsibilities before relaxing. Organizing my time in this way has lowered my stress level a great deal. All this came about because of a few ants.

Hoover's Been Had

Harry Harvey Hoover, in his amber field of hay, started his work truly late in the day. Along whisked a crow and prompted his ear, and related the news that harry did fear. "Why Harry Harvey Hoover, what can I say? You should have woken with the sun this day. For across this here field so early I saw, sheep with gold fleece, t'was at them that I cawed. Oh Henry Harvey Hoover, what a fool you have been. Rich you'd have been had you been up by ten. But how would you catch them? Because, well, ah
em, your are fat, slow, and ugly, and can't scamper like them. That's what you get you lazy, lumbering man. The ants caught the sheep with a frying pan."

age group 13-16