A Person Worse Than an Ant
[Proverbs 6:6-11]
What do you think about "laziness"? Do you consider laziness to be a sin? The reason laziness becomes a sin is because it is an act of disobedience to God's command. Specifically, when we do not use the talents God has given us and “go and bury our master's money in the ground” (Matthew 25:18), we are rebuked by the Lord as “wicked and lazy servants” (Matthew 25:26). So, how can we escape from this laziness? While searching the internet, I came across an article titled “The Ten Commandments for Overcoming Laziness,” and while reading it, I found more resonance with another article that said, "To overcome laziness, there are four main things that are important," so I would like to share it with you (Internet):
(1) The first is ‘hitting rock bottom.’
Every person has a bottom in life, a point they feel they can no longer fall below. Change typically begins when a person feels they are approaching the point they themselves consider to be rock bottom. This often comes after experiencing significant misfortune, but we can experience this beforehand. When we look at today from the perspective of the future, or look at life through the lens of death, or see our lives from someone else’s eyes, that bottom moves as well. We reach the conclusion, “I can’t live like this anymore!”
(2) The second is ‘long-term vision and the big picture.’
This isn’t about making plans for the year or for tomorrow, but rather drawing the big picture of life with a long-term perspective. In this case, the big picture should be drawn with the brush of the talents and strengths God has given us on the canvas of our hearts. We often try to fight against laziness, but when solving issues like laziness, a vertical approach is required. We must find the purpose and meaning of life from a higher perspective.
(3) The third is ‘small actions.’
To break free from laziness, we need to properly lay down stepping stones toward our vision or goal. We should break our goals down into smaller and smaller steps, and when we’re confident it’s not impossible, we make small actions into small victories, building them up firmly.
(4) The fourth is ‘continuous self-examination.’
If we do not improve the quality of our self-examination, our efforts to escape laziness will inevitably fail. Just as a grandfather clock’s loosened spring needs to be rewound daily, we need to rewind the loose spring of our hearts. To do this, we must secure time for self-examination, based on positive habits we enjoy, and make it a routine.
What do you think of these words?
In today’s passage, Proverbs 6:6, the Bible says: “Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise.” What does this mean? Does it mean that we are worse than ants, that we must go and learn from them? Today, I want to reflect on this teaching from God under the title “A Person Worse Than an Ant”.
Who is the person worse than an ant? It is the “sluggard” (verse 6). So, who is the sluggard? According to the Naver dictionary, a sluggard is “a person whose behavior is slow and has a tendency or habit of avoiding work or effort” (Naver Dictionary). In the original Hebrew, a "sluggard" refers to a person who is “habitually lazy and inactive, lacking discipline or plans, and morally failing” (Swanson). However, when we look at Proverbs, the term “sluggard” doesn’t seem to only have this meaning. For example, Proverbs 15:19 says, “The way of the sluggard is like a thorny hedge, but the path of the upright is a highway.” Here, the Bible contrasts the “sluggard” with the “upright.” In Proverbs 21:25-26, the Bible contrasts the sluggard, who dislikes work, with the “righteous.” Also, in Proverbs 19:15, the Bible describes the sluggard as an “idle man,” someone “lazy and resting” (Walvoord). Looking at this, the sluggard is not only someone who is habitually lazy, inactive, and without plans, but also someone who is dishonest before God and unjust.
That is why the Bible in Jeremiah 48:10 says, “Cursed is the one who does the Lord’s work negligently...” (Jeremiah 48:10). This lazy person is told to go to the ant and learn from its ways and gain wisdom, as Proverbs 6:6 says. Why should the sluggard go to the ant and learn? Isn’t the message itself that the sluggard is more foolish than the ant? What is the wisdom that the sluggard should learn from the ant? There are two lessons (Park Yunseon):
First, ants work diligently and cooperatively on their own, even without a supervisor.
Let's look at Proverbs 6:7 in today's passage: "Which, having no chief, officer or ruler" (NIV). What comes to your mind when you think of "ants"? For me, I think of a line of ants walking side by side. Especially, when I think of "ants," I picture them carrying food and walking in groups. Sometimes, I look down and observe ants walking in line, and I remember seeing some of them carrying something (food). While preparing this sermon, I decided to learn more about ants, and I came across some interesting points that I want to share with you (Internet):
(1) Ants are thoughtful.
When we think of "ants," we typically imagine the queen ant and worker ants, but there is something called "scout ants" (patrolling ants). Ants usually send scout ants out to find food. After discovering food, the scout ant brings back less experienced ants and leads them slowly in a parallel line (side by side) to the newly discovered food. The following ants gain knowledge from the guide. If the following ants lag behind, the scout slows down, and when the lagging ants catch up, the scout resumes its fast pace. This shows that both the guide and the following ants are very thoughtful and considerate.
(2) Ants help each other.
Ants' mutual cooperation can be understood through their "communication." Ants communicate through pheromones (chemical signals used for communication between animals of the same species). Ants' pheromone signals are more developed than those of other insects. Like other insects, ants have long and flexible antennae, which they use to smell. With one antenna, ants can relay information about the intensity or direction of a smell. Since most ants live underground, they leave pheromone trails on the surface so that other ants can follow them. In some species that scout in groups, the scout ants mark a trail from the food to the anthill. Other ants follow this trail, reinforcing it each time they return with food. When the food is gone, the returning ants mark it again, and the scent gradually fades. This behavior helps ants adapt to changes in their environment. For instance, if the trail to the food is blocked by an obstacle, the scout ant will leave the path and find a new route. When one ant finds a new path, it marks it with scent as it returns. The ants then converge on the new path, and the scent gets stronger, gradually leading to the best path.
(3) Ants specialize based on size.
When it comes to “food cultivation,” most ants are omnivorous predators that help break down dead organisms. However, some ants have developed special ways of obtaining nutrients. These ants are called "leaf-cutter ants," and they cultivate mushrooms inside their nests. They collect leaves and cut them into small pieces, which they take back to their colony to use for growing mushrooms. Worker ants also divide the work according to their size: the largest ants cut the stems, smaller worker ants chew the leaves, and the smallest ants care for the mushrooms.
Isn't that fascinating? When we think of “ants,” we often think of “diligence.” But what's even more amazing is how ants work together with a spirit of mutual cooperation, constantly working. However, what about the lazy person? Even if there is a supervisor, the lazy person does not listen to their supervisor, works irresponsibly, and wastes time. In Proverbs 19:24, it says, “The sluggard buries his hand in the dish, but will not even bring it back to his mouth” (NIV). Can you imagine such lazy people working together? Would they cooperate and help each other? This is why the Bible says that the lazy person should go to the ants, observe what they do, and learn wisdom from them. Therefore, the lazy person should go to the ants and learn from them by observing how they work diligently and cooperatively, even without a supervisor.
Secondly, ants prepare in advance for the future.
Let’s look at Proverbs 6:8: “She provides her food in the summer and gathers her sustenance at harvest.” (NIV) Everyone, are you familiar with the Aesop fable of "The Ant and the Grasshopper"? In this famous story, while the ant works diligently during the summer, the grasshopper mocks the ants, singing and saying, “Hey, ants! Why are you preparing for the winter in the summer? What’s wrong with you?” Despite this mocking, the ants continue to work hard, even in the heat of the summer, to prepare for the cold winter. Meanwhile, the grasshopper does not work, only singing, and when winter arrives, it has no food and ends up begging for meals. When we read this fable as children, we learned the lesson that we should be like the ants, not like the grasshopper. We learned that we must live with diligence and hard work, not with laziness. However, now that we are older, reflecting on this Aesop story, I believe that the lesson is not only about being diligent like the ants but also about having the wisdom to prepare for the future. When we were young, who thought about the need to prepare for the future? In Proverbs 6:8 today, the Bible advises those who are worse than ants to go to the ants and learn the wisdom of preparing for the future. In Proverbs 30:25, the Bible also introduces the ants as those who "prepare their food in the summer," meaning they gather their food ahead of time during the summer.
Why do ants prepare their winter food in the “summer”? According to Dr. Park Yun-seon, in the region of Palestine, summer is the time for harvest. Therefore, during this time, ants gather their food to prepare for the winter. In this way, ants prepare for the winter by gathering food during the harvest season, while the lazy ones, as stated in Proverbs 6:10, say, “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest.”
What does the Bible say will happen to the lazy ones who continue sleeping and resting? Let’s look at verse 11: “Poverty will come on you like a thief, and scarcity like an armed man.” What does this mean? It means that for the lazy ones, poverty comes inevitably, like a victim encountering a thief or being overwhelmed by an army (MacArthur).
Therefore, in Proverbs 6:9, the Bible rebukes such people by saying: “How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep?” In Proverbs 21:25, the Bible also says: “The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor.” What does this mean? It means that lazy people refuse to work with their hands. In fact, lazy people often create work for themselves. Let’s look at 1 Timothy 5:11-13: “As for younger widows, do not enroll them, for when their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry, and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith. Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not.” The lazy young widows go from house to house, creating trouble by gossiping and saying things they shouldn’t.
But there is an even more serious problem with lazy people. It is that lazy people “think of themselves as wise” (Proverbs 26:16: “The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer discreetly”).
In Proverbs 3:7, which we’ve already reflected on, the Bible says: “Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil.” Therefore, lazy people should not think of themselves as wise. They should fear the Lord and turn away from the evil of laziness. Like the ants, they must prepare diligently for the future, especially during times of harvest.
I would like to conclude with a reflection on the word. The time we are living in now is a time when the second coming of Jesus is imminent. Therefore, we must prepare in advance for the return of Jesus. We must work diligently, like ants, cooperating with a spirit of mutual help to carry out the tasks the Lord has entrusted to us. Especially in this time of abundant harvest, we should diligently cooperate and work together to save souls. In doing so, we must prepare to meet Jesus, the Bridegroom, with oil and lamps, like the five wise virgins in Matthew 25. As a result, when we stand before the Lord, we should never hear the reproach, “You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed” (Matthew 25:26). Instead, we should hear the praise, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness” (Matthew 25:23). I pray that all of us will be those who receive this praise from the Lord.