February 7, 2023
Life Lessons We Can Learn from an Ant
Beloved one, have you ever wanted to make a difference in others’ lives? My entire life my desire has been to make a difference in the lives of others! What is the purpose of living if you’re not impacting lives for the good? How do you make a difference? Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
(Ephesians 4:29)
Make Me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. (Philippians 2:2-5) Pay attention to and apply the metaphor of the ant in your life. It’s amazing that one of the smallest of God’s creatures can become one of His greatest teachers. Let’s look at the lessons the ant teaches us can be shortened to this:
A – Attitude of Initiative (Proverbs 6:6-7, 2 Thessalonians 3:10-12) Ants don’t need a commander to tell them to get started.
N – Nature of Integrity (Psalms 119:1, Proverbs 2:6-8) Ants work faithfully and need no outside accountability to keep them doing right.
T – Thirst for Industry (Proverbs 6:9-11) Ants work hard and will replace their anthill when it gets ruined.
S – Source of Insight (Proverbs 6:8) Ants store provisions in the summer.
If we consider and learn from the ways of the ant, we can grow wise.
Ants teach us to be brave as a hero. (Deuteronomy 31:6) The average human is 10 times the size of an ant. We are terrified by bears and tigers which are nowhere near 10 times our size. Some scream at the sight of a spider. Can you imagine how brave a little ant is? With your strength, you can squash it, dismember it, drown it, or use ant killer to take it out. Come to think of it, ants are braver than your typical action hero!
Ants don’t get distracted. (Philippians 3:13-14) If you put your finger in an ant’s path, it will just walk around it and keeps going in the direction it was going! It won’t let your finger hinder its work. Put an obstacle in its way and it will continue to its destination. It refuses to be distracted.
Ants teach us that the next generation is everyone’s responsibility. (Proverbs 22:6) It takes a village to raise a child. Ants raise all their young together and that’s something we should learn to do. No, not wrap our children like larvae and put them in a room but educate them together. You don’t have to be living in the same house to educate a child and neither do you have to be a schoolteacher. You could educate a stranger’s child by showing a good example, giving good advice, or even settling a small fight in a very civilized manner. Get your ego out of the way because it is for the greater good of everyone.
Ants teach us that knowledge should be shared. (Deuteronomy 4:9-10, 6:5-9) Ants leave chemical trails that allow their colleagues to trace their path to success (food). It would be pointless if they didn’t because although a single ant can carry up to 50 times its body weight (for real?), not much can be carried back to base for the development of the colony. The same thing applies to us when it comes to knowledge. You have a great capacity to store knowledge but if you don’t share what you know what good is it? You can find ants just about anywhere. It’s amazing how they’ve managed to get the most out of living with human beings. Move into a new house and you’ll eventually find ants. Walk in the forest and you’ll find ants. Ants know where to search for resources and you should do the same. Be quick to adapt to your surrounding and don’t wait for a wake-up call. When things around you change, learn to adapt, and make the most out of it.
