Have you watched an ant colony lately?

Consider the following:

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.
How long will you lie down, O sluggard? 
When will you arise from your sleep?
"A little sleep, a little slumber,

A little folding of the hands to rest" -
Your poverty will come in like a vagabond
And your need like an armed man.                                                                     Proverbs 6:6-11

We were created to work.

The question is: for whom am I working?

Is my goal to "get ahead" -- To make sure that "me, myself and I" come out on top? That would mean stepping over others. No, there's got to be a better way! 

Yes! There is . . . but it's not the way of the world.

We can work very hard toward success, and yet be working outside of God's plan for us. Such efforts can collapse like a house of cards, and make us feel frustrated and discouraged.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and don't lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths."

To be a co-laborer with God can bring the joy of fulfillment that no earthly endeavor will ever do. How's this for a job mandate!

Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. 

Freely you received, freely give.  Matthew 10:28

Yes, God knows your capabilities, and He knows what circumstances you need to bring out your very best. Each time I have viewed the film, Evan Almighty, a new layer of meaning comes through. Watch it when you have the opportunity. It just might change your life!

In the meantime, 

read your Bible, 

pray for God's will, 

and spend some time studying the ants . . .

[Roy Parker, one of our readers, has sent this heart-felt response regarding 

"Consider the Ants . . ."   We share it with you now.]

The lowly ant has no life of his own.  He spends the time from the egg to the heap, hunting and storing food, most of it he will never eat, because by the time of winter when the storage is dug into, it will be several generations down the trail.

Modern man has evolved away from the ANT mentality, to their loss.  My grandfather Pinkham retired from J & L at the end of WWII, moved to Van Etten NY and bought a small dairy (family type) farm.  I spent several years of my childhood living on the farm.  

My grandparents would go to the barn early in the morning.  I would join them a little later, do my chores, return to the house and clean up for school.  We would all eat breakfast together with the sun rising in the east.  When breakfast was nearly done, my grandfather would reach over and pat my grandmother's arm...and say the same exact words every day!

They had 20 cows, Jerseys most of the time.  Because of the limitations of income from a small farm, there was not a surplus of money.  My grandparents were a depression era family, and had 11 sons, adopted sons, and/or son's in laws in active duty in WWII.  They both knew that they had to "make it on their own".         To illustrate, one uncle, married to their youngest daughter, had a brain tumor, and after a botched operation spent the remainder of his life in a wheel chair with speech and perception problems.  

Aunt Jean was horrified that she was to receive government surplus food and veterans disability pensions for each of their children until they reached the age of majority.  This is the way people thought 50 years ago.

Now we have 40 - something's living at home in their mothers' basements or attics, never having had a job or an interest in anything except to go on the internet and surf the web for useless information, or to hack into everyone's websites or e-mails simply to try and mess them up.

I looked at an old map of the little town of Alstead NH (when I had a hardware store there), and in 1776, the town had a population of 1300 voters, and could brag that they were home to 151 businesses of all types.  There was a mill (a place where people manufactured products) that employed over 200 people.  There were stores, farms, shops, and craftsmen galore.  By 1976 (200 years later) the population consisted of 125 voters, 3 stores, a couple of-self employed contractors and a surveyor.  

This is not all the fault of "We the people".  Before the farm depression of the 80's, a John Deere dealership in Walpole NH; (RN Johnson) employed over 200 people, selling and servicing farm, light construction and service equipment, over  a 6 state region.  They are still in business, and now employ 11 people.  They do not have a single farm account today!!!  Their main business has evolved to contacting JD dealers who have gone out of business, buying their left over inventory of parts and supplies, and selling parts for antique JD equipment over the internet.  I know the grandson running the business, so a few years ago, I stopped to say "HI" when I was passing through.  IN OUR DISCUSSION I determined that with the proliferation of government rules and regulations, in addition to the 11 employees he has, he has to hire an accounting firm in Springfield Mass. They have 3 people working full time on his business.  His grandfather, Ralph Nathan Johnson, had one bookkeeper and one office manager when he employed 200 people.  Now he has to file a separate form for every part sent to another state to show that he does not have to collect sales tax on that item! 

When JFK was running for President, the Rat Pack which included his brother-in- law, sang an old song about an ant and a rubber tree. The words gave testimony to the perseverance of the ant in hauling in "the rubber tree". It was of course adapted to "Who can"  "Jack can" instead of "Whoops there goes another rubber tree plant"  The Ant didn't have to fill out form 2438 about moving an endangered tree, or form 8635 that he swore that he had no underage children working, or form 3671 that he did not discriminate against people for various reasons, he just got the lead out and went to work for himself.

Back to my grandfather and grandmother - What did my grandfather say to my grandmother every day from the start of the depression until they went home in 1987? 

He said,  "Well Eva, ole woman, what shall we do today to make some money to pay our bills?"

Roy A. Parker

Ordained Minister

703-447-7261

8665 Sudley Road #340

Manassas, Va. 20110

The United States of America is a Christian Nation