Proverbs 6:6-8. 6Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. 7Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, 8she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest.
Are you a sluggard? A what?
A sluggard is a person who is lazy. A sluggard doesn’t like to start their work and doesn’t like to finish their work either. Worst of all, the sluggard can’t admit that they are a sluggard.
Solomon is concerned that his children not become sluggards and o he gives them an example from nature to look at – the ants. The ants don’t have to be constantly told what to do or to get back to work- without any chief, officer, or ruler. By contrast the wise start their work without being asked and without anyone hovering over their shoulder making sure things are getting done. Guided by their wisdom and fear of the Lord, rather than a chief, the wise can rise up in a collective effort to fulfill God’s mandate for us to “work and keep” our garden.
Why does God care about how hard we work? Because our work is a one of God’s most life giving gifts. As already hinted at, God made mankind to work, to cultivate, to serve in the Garden of Eden. Their work gave life meaning. Their work imaged God. Their work was their worship (literally work and worship are the same Hebrew word). When we work we display the character of God. His creativity, his service, his orderliness, his care. When we work we display our God given rule over creation. Our dominion and authority. When we work hard we do it from a strength that is only given by God.
The New Covenant Christian is not freed from the mandate of God to work and keep our little corner of the garden of earth. In fact, knowing that one day Christ will restore this Earth to its original glory makes our work all the more important as we can now see it as a picture of what’s to come. A participation with Christ in the restoration of all things.
The Christ in us is never slothful or sluggardly. He never becomes weary in doing good. We too can resist laziness by faith in him. When we do our work as unto the Lord and not unto man, we can find peace and pleasure in any hard work. All honest work can be done to the glory of God, even if it is not our dream job.
Most importantly, we can do the work of the church. Like the ant, we can work together as one team, an organic working body where each member does its part to cause the growth of the whole. How? By rejecting any form of selfish ambition for the good of the body of Christ, that is, for the good of Christ himself whom we love and who loves us from his finished work for us.
You: Would you say that you are a sluggard or an ant?
You in Christ: Think about – Our work doesn’t earn God’s love, but his love should make us desire to work hard for him and for others.
Christ in you: How can Christ’s loving authority in your life motivate your hard work, even when the job is less than desirable?
Pray: Father, I don’t want to be a sluggard. Help me to be like the ants instead finding my place within the work of Christ and his church. Amen.
To Live is Christ 