March 17, 2026 -- Proverbs 6:6-11 -- What Can I learn from an Ant? Seriously?!

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

6 Go to the ant, O sluggard;
    consider her ways, and be wise.
7 Without having any chief,
    officer, or ruler,
8 she prepares her bread in summer
    and gathers her food in harvest.
9 How long will you lie there, O sluggard?
    When will you arise from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest,
11 and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
    and want like an armed man.
Proverbs 6:6-11 ESV
 
Sluggard. What a descriptive word that is. A lazy person. A slothful person. A sleepy person. I’ve usually heard the text above applied to people who aren’t working hard, but hardly working. It makes sense. If you are not prepared to work, and to put strength into it, you will be financially poor. Dig deeper.
 
Think of this passage as applied to one who is learning to walk with God. The laws, and precious promises, and commands of God are all meant to be food for the soul. A lazy person misses out on opportunities to feast on the word of God. When the time is ripe and there are opportunities to read and pray, he is sleeping. He is folding his hands and doing nothing. The result is this: when hard times comes (and believe you me, they always do!), and he desperately needs the promises, the assures and the guidance of the Word, he will have nothing stored up in his heart and mind. He will be impoverished regarding the Word of God.
 
Are you a spiritual sluggard? Are you lazy regarding the things of God? You meant to read the Bible, but you scrolled through videos instead. You are planning on spending time in prayer but find hours have gone by as you’ve been watching sports, or playing video games, (or you fill in your favorite time waster). You meant to listen to a podcast explaining something about the faith, but you didn’t. In fact, you can’t even explain what you did with your time. You just didn’t spend it with God. The glorious rescue that is yours in Jesus Christ is not amazing wondrous to you. You haven’t taken hold of relationship with Him. Today’s passage is teaching you: if you don’t stand with Him, you’ll fall for anything.
 
The poverty of your soul will hit you to moment you have a hard decision to make, and you realize you have no depth of character. The poor condition of your soul will hit you upside the head like a smack when you hear a bad report and realize you are so far from God that you doubt. “Will He ever hear me?” you endlessly question. Even if He might hear you, you don’t know how to pray. How to reach out to Him.
 
Today is the day of salvation. Today is the day to renew your vows and walk with God. Today is the day, having been warned by this passage, to start anew and recommit to your Bible reading time. The goal is not to tick a box and say, “See, I read the Bible”. The goal is to know Jesus. The whole Bible is about Him; He brings you to the Father in heaven as a beloved son or daughter. I challenge you, how much will you read every day? A chapter a day? A chapter in the Old Testament and a chapter in the New Testament a day? Okay. Write it down somewhere. Make a commitment to this and tell someone. Believe you me, the Spirit of God delights to fill you with the word of God
 
What about spending time in prayer? If you have lost your ability to pray, before reading the Bible, pray the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13). Read the Bible. Then end by praying a psalm. Yes, the psalms are prayers to help the people of God learn to grow in their communication with our King! Tell someone about your decision. Hold yourself accountable on this.
 
Father in heaven, I confess how lazy I am. How slow to obey I have been. I can’t even keep track of how often I’ve promised to spend time with You, only to find the day, the week, or the month has slipped by and I can’t recall what I did…but I didn’t grow in my walk with You. Spirit of God, by Bible reading and prayer, lead me to Jesus. Help me to find an accountability partner who will ask me about this commitment so that I will be more inclined to do what I am pledging. God, You are worthy of this. God, You are great, and the source of anything that is Good in my life; as I read and pray, open my eyes to this Truth. Amen.
 
https://youtu.be/u_ZWEO36jok?si=kNkuWulNC61OX0vx Forgiven

 

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