Consider the ant
Proverbs 6:6 offers this little piece of wisdom: “Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.”
The reference to the “sluggard” gives us a pretty strong clue as to what the proverbial writer is wanting us to observe about the ant. It is clearly something to do with how hard the ant works. Not being a sluggard (hey, I work hard at least one day a week!), the proverb has always had little appeal for me (except, of course, as something to quote to my children and employees).
But now it seems that I can learn more than just a strong protestant work ethic from the ant. New research reveals that ants are real team players, even letting themselves be ‘treated like a doormat’ for the sake of their fellow ants. Apparently some ants act as ‘living bitumen’ in order to fill the potholes and smooth the path for other ants to crawl over them, so enabling the team to get its job done more efficiently.
Another brilliant sermon illustration in search of a sermon.