Harvest Time

Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man. Proverbs 6:6-11 KJV

The first part of Proverbs 6 I wrote about last week was giving your money to a friend or stranger and the caution against it. Today, we are going to get wisdom about working for food. Gathering food is indeed a lot easier today than it was when this was written. Jobs were scarce, and storing food was a challenge, unlike today, at least in America, where a person can have multiple jobs and go to the local store to buy food. I remember as a kid. My neighbors would jar (aka can) fresh vegetables to store for the winter. They would buy a quarter or half a cow to store in the freezer. 

In some third-world countries, food is scarce, making this Proverb more in sync than in America and other prosperous countries. The reference to the Ant means their sole job is to find food for the winter ahead. In a place like Texas, food is available all the time, but, say, Wisconsin, where it snows, it is essential to store food. Living in Houston, when we hear a hurricane approaching, we store food, water, and gas in case power goes out for days and sometimes weeks. You see this on the news: food drives for people who did not prepare or plan. 

A challenge I see in rich countries is a particular sect of the population wants an overseer or someone to take care of them. As I mentioned above, people don’t plan for the worst and expect someone to provide it for them. The Ant has to prepare for the worst to survive. Just this morning, I got up earlier than expected to write this blog. I could not sleep even though my mind and body wanted more. It was time to get up. 

I do have to caution you when reading this: I worked extremely hard when I was in college, working part-time to pay the bills. At one point, I was working five jobs. People work hard to provide for their families, and it may just be enough to survive. Certain luxuries can be enjoyed when the Lord has blessed you with more, but not at the cost of providing for your family. 

Back to the overseer, some people rely on the government to survive. Some people need it, which is true, but there is no incentive to get off and rely on God. Some people blame their skin color, lack of education, and other things for their lack instead of working hard and trusting the Lord in all things. The last verse is especially critical of those who do, as poverty will come severely with unavoidable consequences. 

The Lord uses the ant analogy to give us the wisdom to work hard to prepare for the future through the self-discipline of living a life here on earth until we get to Heaven.