Pensamientos para hoy (afterthought for today)
Wise as ants
Summer time is a fun time of picnics and lots of outdoor fun. But we're not the only ones who come out during the summer. Ants are getting out and busily looking for food. One of Aesop's fables, The Ant and the Grasshopper, tells us why the ants are so busy during the summer.In a field one summer's day a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its heart's content. An Ant passed by laboring under the burden of an ear of grain he was taking to the nest.Aesop lived in the sixth century B.C. Two-hundred years before Aesop another man named Solomon wrote about ants being busy in the summer. Solomon wrote: "Go to the ant, O sluggard, observe her ways and be wise, which, having no chief, officer or ruler, prepares her food in the summer and gathers her provision in the harvest. (Proverbs 6:7-8).1 And in another place Solomon wrote: "[Some] things are small on the earth, but they are exceedingly wise: The ants are not a strong people, but they prepare their food in the summer (Proverbs 30:24-25)." At Trinity church we usually scale down some of our regular ministries for the summer. We let our Sunday School teachers, youth leaders, and others take a break. It's vacation time for many people and the brief hiatus makes it easier for everyone. Yet as helpful and even necessary as is our break from these ministries, we cannot take a break in every area. We still need to read our Bibles daily and be faithful in giving and church attendance. We need also to continue to pray. In fact we should take this time to be like the ant and prepare by praying. This summer let's prepare for the fall and winter ministries by working hard at prayer. The spiritual cache that we build during our summer prayer meetings will help prepare us for the battle that lies ahead. Let's take a lesson from the ant and do the work now so that we'll be ready for September. P.S. We have a special Congregational Meeting Sunday, June 8th. Please join us for this important meeting where we'll discuss some of the work that lies ahead in the fall. Working hard now for the needs of the future, Pastor Steve May 30, 2008
"Why not come and chat with me," said the Grasshopper, "instead of toiling and moiling in that way?"
"I'm helping to lay up food for the winter," said the Ant, "and I recommend that you to do the same."
"Why bother about winter?" said the Grasshopper. "We've got plenty of food at present." But the Ant went on its way and continued its toil. When the winter came the Grasshopper had no food and found itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants distributing every day grain from the stores they had collected in the summer. Then the Grasshopper understood: "It is best to prepare for the days of necessity."
Footnotes1 Proverbs 6:7-8 NASB (New American Standard Bible). Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.
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