Parental Wisdom about Diligence

Introduction:

When it comes to learning wisdom, the Sage makes it very clear in Proverbs 6:6–11: the sluggard follows the easy path, the path of folly, and only the diligent find and follow the path of wisdom. In the first five verses of chapter 6, the father warned the son to sacrifice sleep, if necessary, in order to free himself from a foolish commitment that he had made. As if to emphasize how serious he was about the son taking that advice, the father follows it with contrasting object lessons: the object lesson of the ant versus the object lesson of the sluggard.

I. The Object Lesson of the Ant (Pr 6:6-8)

A. Diligent character proceeds from inner motivation (Pr 6:7; Eph 5:16)

Quotation: “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.” (Pr 6:6–8)

Explanation: The first thing our teacher points out about the working ant colony is how each ant performs his duty within the social structure without a “drill sergeant ant” following him and cracking the whip to keep him on task. Each ant seems to have the inner motivation to fulfill his task that helps the ant community to thrive. In the same way, the son is admonished to obtain an internal motivation from his relationship with wisdom. An awe of the Lord and an ever-growing knowledge of his character will keep us moving without parents and pastors having to constantly admonish us to be about our business.

Argumentation: The Apostle Paul reminds us of this lesson in Ephesians 5 when he discusses the difference between walking foolishly in life and walking wisely: “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” (Eph 5:16)

Application: Redeeming means to make the best use of. The determination to make the best use of what God has given us must come from within. It is our love for the Lord what will help us make the best use of our time, not external taskmasters constantly threatening us. That only leads to resentment and rebellion.

Quotation: “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” (Ge 1:26)

Explanation: A good steward, and the verse we just referenced makes it clear that we are created to be God’s stewards on earth, finds motivation within to fulfill the master’s will while the master is gone. An inner motivation to hear the master’s approval, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant,” is required to be a faithful and successful steward.

B. Diligent character prioritizes needs over wants (Pr 6:8; Ga 6:8)

Quotation: “Provideth her meat in the summer, And gathereth her food in the harvest.” (Pr 6:8)

Explanation: Notice what the ant is doing. The ant is gathering food. It does not say that the ant is throwing a lavish party. It does not say that the ant is spending valuable time and resources on luxuries that swiftly fade away. The ant is spending time and energy working to provide for the necessities of life.

Argumentation: And let all sitting under the sound of my voice today know that I am not just referring to physical necessities. I submit to you that spiritual necessities are more important! The person the Sage is describing––that is the one who has humbly learned from the ant and has avoided becoming a sluggard––would choose eternal realities as the most vital. If the choice came down to physical food or spiritual well-being, eternal well-being is more important, more necessary.

Quotation: As the Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians, “For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” (Ga 6:8)

C. Diligent character prepares in advance (Pr 6:8; Mt 6:20; 2 Co 9:6)

Explanation: Notice when the ant is gathering. The ant is gathering when there is food to be gathered. The ant can’t put off storing up food until it is more convenient. The ant can’t gather food day-by-day like an Israelite gathering manna in the wilderness. The ant must gather during the harvest time when the food is available. If the ant wants to eat in winter, the ant must put in the work to create stores during the harvest!

Quotation: “Provideth her meat in the summer, And gathereth her food in the harvest.” (Pr 6:8)

Explanation: This also means that the ant needs to gather enough food in the harvest. If the ant doesn’t gather enough food in harvest time, his stores will run out before the winter is over.

Quotation: “But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.” (2 Co 9:6)

Application: My friend, there is also a spiritual application here. If you want to reap eternal rewards when you see Jesus in Heaven, you need to be sowing now. The time for sowing will be over when you leave your temporary, earthly body. Spiritually speaking, the harvest is now! If you want to reap later, you need to be sowing now. If you want to have treasure in heaven, you must do the “laying up” now on earth!

Quotation: “But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:” (Mt 6:20)

II. The Object Lesson of the Sluggard (Pr 6:6, 9-11)

A. Diligent character is produced through humility (Pr 6:6; Mk 10:45)

Explanation: Our Lord, the perfect man, is the ultimate illustration of this. As a king, he rightfully could have expected to be served and not have to labor as diligently as he did, but this is a misunderstanding of reality. As our leader and example, Jesus was humble and diligent. Jesus purpose for coming to earth was not to be served, but rather it was to serve. Humility leads to diligence.

Quotation: “For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Mk 10:45)

Quotation: As David Hubbard says, “The bite of sarcasm is felt in the contrast between the diligence of the ant and the indolence of the sluggard. The contrast is humiliating. A person over 5 feet tall and weighing 130 pounds or more is told to let an ant be teacher, an ant less than a quarter of an inch long, weighing a slight fraction of an ounce. A person with gifts of speech, with a brain the size of a whole anthill, is told to bend over, peer down, and learn from the lowly ant. The irony is powerful. The stupid sluggard lags behind the ant in two chief ways. First, she needs no leader; she is not part of a Solomonic bureaucracy (v. 7) with its “captain, overseer [or record keeper], and ruler [or counselor].” The sluggard may fail despite an organizational structure that ought to promote achievement; the ant succeeds on her own. Second, she plans ahead. She understands the seasons. The cycles of life—harvest season and dormant periods—are coded into her instincts. She works while food is plentiful and stores it against the season of want.”

B. Diligent character provides balance between needs (Pr 6:9-10)

Quotation: “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:” (Pr 6:9–10)

Explanation: Make no mistake! Sleep is a human need. The son is not being encouraged here to neglect sleep, which is necessary for well-being. What is being warned against here is emphasizing one need (sleep) to the exclusion of another need (work). There is an appropriate balance between the two which the wise person will achieve, but the fool will neglect.

C. Diligent character displays love (Pr 6:9; 2Th 3:10; Jn 5:17)

Quotation: As Hubbard again notes, “The teacher is frustrated, even angry. Laziness is a breach of love. It refuses to carry its own weight let alone help with the loads of the rest of us who plod along supporting our young, our aged, our infirm. We have no surplus energy to carry those who can walk and will not. “How long” and “when” are the right questions.”

Quotation: “For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.” (2 Th 3:10)

Quotation: Once again, Hubbard comments, “Hard work ought to be the normal routine of us who serve a carpenter-Christ, who follow the lead of a tentmaker-apostle, and who call ourselves children of a Father who is still working (John 5:17).”

D. Diligent character helps prevent poverty (Pr 6:11)

Quotation: “So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, And thy want as an armed man.” (Pr 6:11)

Explanation: Not only does physical laziness tend to produce material poverty, but spiritual laziness tends to produce spiritual poverty. The wise person will avoid spiritual poverty by following the advice of the Apostle Paul to the Romans.

Quotation: “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.” (Ro 13:11–14)

Application: The worst kind of spiritual poverty is a failure to possess eternal life. This must be avoided at all costs. Spurgeon once said that “The most likely man to go to hell is the man who has nothing to do on earth. Idle people tempt the devil to tempt them.” Are you so lazy that you will remain spiritually bankrupt and enter eternity without a relationship with Christ? This is the destination of a fool who is lazy rather than the diligent man who heeds and practices wisdom.

Conclusion:

                My friends, a story is told of a man running unopposed for the office of mayor of a relatively small town in the state of New York, USA. The man from whom he had taken the office had his supporters launch a stealth write-in campaign which took the man whose name was on the ballot completely by surprise. Because he was running unopposed, the man didn’t campaign for office and took his election for granted. As he said, following his loss, “I got lazy.”

                Neither you nor I can afford to be the indecisive, caught-off-guard, reality-denying sluggard. The character of Christ is decisive, anticipatory, and always living according to reality. To be the sluggard is to be easy prey for our natural enemy, the devil. Peter phrases it this way, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” (1 Pe 5:8). The sluggard is too lazy to get out of the way of this beast, and you may be sure that, unless by God’s grace you overcome your laziness and put on Christ-like diligence, the devil will devour you.

                Learn from the object lesson of the ant! Learn from the object lesson of the sluggard! Stop putting off bible reading! Stop putting off regular prayer! Stop finding ways to avoid attending church! As Charles Spurgeon once said, “Only do not wind up your soul with daily prayer, and you will soon run down. Only neglect the cultivation of the heart, and thorns and briars will grow uninvited. Neglect your inner life, and your whole being will deteriorate.”