“Go to the ant, O sluggard;
Proverbs 6:6-8
consider her ways, and be wise.
Without having any chief,
officer, or ruler,
she prepares her bread in summer
and gathers her food in harvest.”
There is, of course, the practical application of the sluggard observing the ant, imitating her ways, working diligently while it is summer and harvest so there is sustenance for winter. But I’d like to dwell on the spiritual application of this passage.
While it is still summer – while life is good – we ought to be diligent to store up spiritual nourishment. The crumbs from the Master’s table. To be in church and midweek Bible study; to listen to sermons and take notes; to study quietly every morning and meditate on the Word of God throughout the day; to sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. If we do this in summer when life is pleasant, if we gather in harvest when surrounded by abundance, then we will be ready for life’s winter.
Winter will always come. No man escapes it. Those dark nights of the soul when tragedy strikes, when loved ones are lost, when economies fall, when war rages, when sickness causes suffering, when fortunes fail, when hunger comes. Those who have not prepared will be the ones whose hearts fail, who turn their backs on God, who blame Him out of ignorance or forgetfulness. It is easy to blame God when we have not stored up the truths of His character in our hearts. But if we gather while it is harvest, we will have an inner store of nourishment to sustain us through life’s winter.