June 12, 2016
Scripture:
Scripture:
Hymn 312 - Jesus loves me! this I know
Prayer
Today we’re going to look at the lessons the Bible teaches us from the ant. But quickly I want to mention something from Hebrew 1:3. The words “express image” in the original Greek are a single word, from which we get our word character. The Greek word refers to an engraving, or a duplicate or replica of something. You may have used cookie cutters when playing with clay: you just push the cutter into the clay, and you have a new copy of the shape. In the same way, Jesus was the image of God. He was God as man. So, character is showing what we are. If we are representing the Lord we will display the fruit of the Spirit, and godly character. Today, we’re going to learn some of this character from the ant.
Did you know there are ten thousand different types of ants? They’re in Africa, South America, and all over the world. If you were to take all the insects in the world and weigh them, ants would make up two-thirds of the weight. They also are incredibly strong. There are some ants who can pull fifty times their own weight. They pull and carry things that are so much bigger than they are. Well, ants may be tiny, but they have certain characteristics from which we can learn some lessons.
Proverbs 6:6-11
Proverbs 10:26
Colossians 3:23
What is a sluggard? A sluggard is someone who is lazy. They avoid work, and they have a lesson to learn from the ant. We are going to see two specific characteristics that we can learn from the ant. We are told to “consider her ways,” so we can understand, be wise, and do well.
If we look at v. 7 we see that there is no one to give the ants a list of jobs each morning when they wake up. No one is saying, “We need to gather food to store for the winter today, and the hill is breaking, so we need to gather sand, and fix that as well.” That is not how it works. The ants have initiative. They are self-motivated. They see what needs to be done and do it. You probably have jobs around the house that you are expected to do like clean your bedroom. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could clean your room before your mother reminds you? Do what needs to be done.
Ants are always doing something. They’re always busy working. There are so many things they do to survive; they have no overseer, but they keep busy doing what needs to be done. They get out and work.
They are also diligent. Diligence is the effort in the work. The one who’s sleeping and avoids work isn’t going to get anywhere. But the ant sees the importance of doing the work.
Read Proverbs 10:26. Have you ever been roasting a hot dog over a fire, and all of a sudden the wind changes directions? All the smoke gets in your eyes, and it stings. It is the same feeling when you send someone to do a job, and they don’t do it. They play or do something they want to do. Can you imagine if the disciples that Jesus sent to get the donkey stopped and did something else that they wanted to do. Every job is important. We are to do our jobs unto the Lord. Whatsoever we do is to be done for Him. He is watching us.
So, compare the messages from the sluggard and ant. It’s good to get used to getting up and doing work while you are young. Be willing to work, and do it diligently. Let’s take a lesson from the ant who is always busy, and let’s work for the Lord.
Philippians 5:8-23
We get a challenging command here: “think on these things.” Our mind is a battleground, for what we think about determines our actions. The word “things” makes it sound like we should be thinking about material objects, but it’s more than that. We can think about people, like Christ. Looking around at the world we see just the opposite of this list of things, so we should keep looking to Christ. Noah only had one window in the ark, and that faced up. Our house windows face out, and there are so many distractions around.
True. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Where else do in this world to we get the truth like from the Bible? Today people think that everything is relative, and that there is no bedrock truth. Paul told these believers, “You have the truth, now think about it!” There is much profit in thinking about the right things, and there is nothing more valuable than thinking about the truth. The Bible gives us the truth about the past, the present, and the future. Where else do we get that?
Paul told us not to think about our troubles. We need to get the clutter out of our minds, and fill it with these things instead. We do have school and work to think about (And this applies to those, too. Not everything taught these days is true.), and some complain that they just don’t have time personal devotion. As John Lennox pointed out, though, how much time do you spend looking at a screen? That’s how much time you have to be in God’s word.
Honest. This is a hard word to translate. Other options are noble (DT), or venerable (margin in DT and KJV). It carries a dignified feeling. The world offers so much dirty, defiling, untrue garbage today. What is refined, good, and morally upright should occupy our minds; not dirt. The Lord falls under this category: you can’t get anything finer!
Just. There are many politicians that are involved in the much injustice that happens today. Justice is one of God’s attributes; it’s part of who He is. Even so, many people wonder why He allows disasters and injustices to happen. Charles B. Templeton, the friend of Billy Graham, saw a picture of a woman holding her child, who had died due to a lack of rain, and it started him on the course to atheism. We don’t make rain, God does; couldn’t He have sent some? We don’t know the end from the beginning, though, only God does. Maybe that was the only way that child would have made it to heaven. “Shall not the judge of all the Earth do right?” the Bible asks. God is just, and we can rest on His justice, knowing that He knows all. We can ponder that, too, and not let our minds run with things that man can’t control.
Pure. The media today runs with impurity. We have impurity inside us— our Old Nature is attracted to it— so we need discipline to occupy our minds with what God says are the right things. The impurity business runs rampant today, to the point where there are whole businesses dedicated to helping those addicted to it. May the Lord preserve us!
Lovely; or amiable and sweet. We’ve been given many precious portions to think about; things that lift us out of the mire of the world. We’ve been saved from that mire, and been given new things to think about. There were some missionary children who were on furlough from China. Having been born and raised in China, they were missing their Chinese friends. As they were walking along the street, they noticed a Chinese laundry man, carrying his huge bag of laundry. He was dirty, missing teeth, and generally unattractive; but the children were so happy to see someone from China that they ran over and began talking to the man in Chinese. Immediately the man lit up with a big smile, and they had a wonderful time talking. Some complain that they don’t see lovely things around them, but that’s because you sometimes have to put some love in first. It’s like the old pumps; you had to prime them with water, and then they gave you all you wanted.
Hymn 369 - I claim for my own, a king on the throne
Prayer