Ants

 

"THE ANTS ARE A PEOPLE NOT STRONG, YET THEY PREPARE THEIR MEAT IN SUMMER."  PROVERBS 30:25
 
The message of the ant is "prepare yourself!" He prepares for winter while he is still in summer. That's because:

(1) His eyes are on the future. You can't undo the past, but if you let it, it can undo you. The summer of your opportunities is passing quickly. Winter will come whether you're ready or not. Remember Christ's parable about the five foolish virgins who had no oil in their lamps and were excluded from the wedding? If you're not ready when your time comes, you'll miss out.

(2) He has the ability to delay gratification. If you don't have the patience to wait, you'll miss, or mess up, what God has in mind for you. The ant takes the resources he has in summer, and moves it towards his winter. Weill somebody else show up and do this for him? No. Are there predators looking for a chance to steal what he's got? Yes. But he's so focused on where he's going, he doesn't have time to worry about where he is.

(3) He has a cause bigger than himself. Ever watch an ant at work? He sinks his teeth into a piece of bread three times bigger than himself and drags it to where he's trying to go.

Are you saying, "This is too big for me, I can't carry it by myself?" You don't have to. Read this: "Glory be to God who by his might power at work within us is able to do far more than we could ever dare to ask or even dream of" (Ephesians 3:20 TLB).