LEARN FROM THE ANTS: Text: Proverbs 6:6-11 Intro: When the Bible tells us to go to the ant, there must be something worthy to be learnt from them. We all familiar with their labour and lifestyle when it comes to saving, but today we will dig more the deeper truths from them. Aim: For us to learn from the ants in hard work and saving. For us not to be in need.

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THE ANTS? I. ANTS ARE HARDWORKING-V 6 The command to go to the ants was directed to the lazy ones Even the Lord Himself commanded us to work for 6 days in a week Exodus 20:9 Six days you shall labour and do all your work, Gen 2:15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. There are four stages in ant’s growth: 1. Egg-Worker ants care for the young ants through each stage. After a queen ant lays her eggs, worker ants take them to hatching chambers. There, the workers care for the eggs and often groom them by licking..

The eggs hatch in a few days to become larvae 2. Larvae During the larvae stage, the young ants look like tiny white worms. Worker ants move the larvae to new chambers and feed them for a few weeks until they become pupae 3. Pupa Pupae do not eat or move. But they do change. In two to three weeks, adult ants come out of the cocoons or skin 4. Adult They are now ready to go to work! Egg to Larva-Few days; Larva to Pupa- few weeks; Pupa to adult- 2-3 weeks

Most of our problem esp. Filipinos is it takes ages for an adult to learn to work and sad to say majority do not work Nobody teaches ants to work they just imitate what others are doing Why do ants greet each other? They converse but not gossip around. They're conveying important information ex. where the food can be obtained. II. ANTS ARE WISE-V 6 Wise in a way that they understand that if they don’t work they’ll have nothing to eat They save and not waste Our problem is we enjoy spending what we earned as if there’s no need for tomorrow Don’t get confused with worrying not and preparing for your tomorrow

When there was 7 years of prosperity, Joseph was saving all the excess for those years for the 7 years of famine that will follow Even Jesus saved the food excess from the miracle John 6:12 So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, "Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost." Ants understand that it’s not harvest all the time so they prepare food for summer-v 8 They store the food they harvest in special chambers in the nest

III. ANTS WORK WITHOUT SUPERVISORS-V 8 No overseer, No captain, No Ruler Exodus 18:25 And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people: rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. Ants Classification: Queen Ant- they lay eggs and doesn’t work Male ants- Mate with the queen -they don’t work -they live only for a short period of time Female Ants-Workers and Soldiers

If they are workers they don’t behave as if they the queen Illustration: Taxi driver who received £250k tip Ex. Grace receives money from her boss even when she’s already in the Phils. IV. ANTS ARE SKILLED WORKERS Living almost entirely underground, or foraging only at night There are types of ants according to the job they do 1. Carpenter Ants- build nests and tunnels in dead wood, trees, utility poles, and timbers of buildings 2. Driver, or Army, Ants-move their entire colonies every two to four weeks They are predatory. Army ants gang up to eat insects, lizards, and small animals.

3. Fungus-growing Ants- cultivate a certain species of fungus for their food. Some species of fungus-growing ants cut off leaves from trees and other plants and carry them to their nests. They chew the leaves into a pulp and use it as a base on which to grow the fungus. 4. Harvester Ants- gather and store certain wild grass seeds, or cultivated grain. They gather the seeds from the plants and pick up those that have fallen to the ground. 5. Honey Ants- use certain workers, called replete, as living vessels in which to store food. They hang from the ceilings of nest chambers and dispense the food, by regurgitating it, to the other ants during dry seasons when other food and water are scarce.

6. Dairying ants- “herd” aphids just as people herd cattle! The ants keep the aphids together and protect them from other insects. Why do the ants do this? It’s because aphids produce something that the ants really like— honeydew. 7. Black Ants- are attracted to human foods, particularly cooked meats and vegetables, and those containing sugar. They are active day and night, and are often seen carrying food back to their nests. 8. Slave-holding Ants-raid the nests of other ant species for larvae and pupae, which become slave workers in their colony after growing to adulthood 9. Weaver ants- build nests from leaves. To do this, some workers hold the sides of a leaf together. Others take silk-spinning larvae and pass them over the edges of the leaf to “weave” the edges together.

Ants knows a lot of things Illustration: Landlord who has properties but he himself does the work In the Phils. there are those who got no jobs but has helpers and vices V. PROVIDES HER SUPPLY IN THE SUMMER-V 8 They don’t depend on others for food They are not parasites who depend on others’ lives to survive They don’t borrow but work hard Gathers her food in the harvest VI. ANTS DO NOT LOVE SLEEPING/NOT SLUMBER- V 9 Pro 20:13 Do not love sleep, lest you come to poverty; Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with bread.

VII. ANTS ARE NEVER IN NEED-V 11 They are not lazy Pro 20:4 The lazy man will not plough because of winter; He will beg during harvest and have nothing. To the lazy poverty come to them like a prowler-v 11 To roam through stealthily, as in search of prey or plunder Need come like an armed man that you are so helpless about it People borrow either because they are lazy or no savings Deut 8:18 "And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

CONCLUSION: Borrowing is avoidable except on circumstances that goes beyond your control Pro 14:23 In all labour there is profit, But idle chatter leads only to poverty. Pro 6:6 Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise.