A parent says to his child, “Please clean up the mess in the living room.”

The child says to the parent, “But I didn’t make the mess!”

The parent says to the child, “Did I ask you who made the mess, or to clean up the mess?”

“Go to the ant, O sluggard; 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,” (Proverbs 6:6-8, ESV).

In thirty three years of church work, the most common phrase I have heard is this: “Something must be done!”

So many times church members do nothing more than point out congregational faults.

Imagine a full-grown man, almost six-foot tall, leaning over an anthill and observing the tiny creature’s team work and initiative.

This plucky insect, without “chief, officer or ruler” carries out its responsibilities without being told, coerced, petted or bribed. Are provisions needed at harvest? The ant gets to work on the task of harvesting. Will there be a drought in winter? The ant sets about rectifying the need.

The ant doesn’t point out the luxurious lifestyle of the queen ant or the mistakes of manager ants. He simply sees the need and gets the job done.

To the ant, the words “Something must be done” are turned around to, “I must do something.”

So go consider the ant, and be wise.

by Stan Mitchell @ www.forthright.net