"Go to the Ant Thou Sluggard" Proverbs 6.6
Why am I so intrigued by lists? I see an article with a title like, "20 ways to leave your lover" and I want to know more about what the guy or girl is talking about. Not that I want to leave MY lover, by the way! If it said "How to leave your wife!" I'd be appalled and wouldn't give it a second glance. Why are those numbers in titles so attractive? What is it about a curt list that grabs my attention?
I think that I know. I want a shortcut. I am lazy. I need to succeed and I want to get there the comfortable way. I don't want to have to struggle to write a novel, earn more money or become a good father or husband. I want those ten easy steps.
To get anything worthwhile in this life takes work. Building a reputation is a lifetime pursuit. However, I don't want to spend a lifetime. Thus the lists grab my fancy.
It is much more exciting to think that I can become an award-winning author by following these "Five simple steps" than to have to go to college or through the college of hard knocks. Right? Is it that way with you?
Some people are list makers and list checker-offers. My wife is like that. She feels fulfilled when she can grab a pencil or pen and dash to her list and with bravado swipe through another task. Sometimes she gets frustrated because she can't do just that. However, for the most part her lists help her to do important stuff.
I like lists too, lists that other people make for me. However, I have discovered something important. A list doesn't make me more successful, useful, a better author or father. I might get some hints about these things but the success comes with hard work and time. Oh brother!
That is the part we hate isn't it? We don't want to have to go through all of the struggle that others have gone through. If I can shortcut the process, let me at it.
There is a Bible message here somewhere! Oh yeah! Just the other day, on one of my walks, I saw a small pile of yellow flakes on the ground. I stopped to have a look and noticed that they weren't flakes at all. They looked like little plugs of dirt. I picked on up on the dampened end of my finger and that is exactly what they were.
As I observed that tiny pile I noticed ants coming from a tiny hole nearby. I did what Solomon recommended and observed them. One by little one they came from and went into this tiny hole. The ones coming out were carrying the yellow dirt plugs. The ones going in were going to get more. There were a couple who looked like supervisors. They would go over and pick up an errant dirt plug and shuffle it to another location. The ants leaving the hole didn't just go to the nearest spot to deposit their cargo. They would walk a ways away from the hole and set it down as if it were an important little Ming vase. Or is it Vaze? It was fascinating.
I imagined the inside of that hole. More than likely there was no interior lighting. The ants were coming and going at a rather rapid pace. At times they would bump into each other but there didn't ever seem to be a fight or rude discussion. In and out they came and went. And over a short period they moved a lot of earth. There was no “5 easy steps”.
So, how do I become famous, successful or wise? Go to the ant thou sluggard not to the lists. Carry the dirt one chunk at a time. Time after time. With time allow God to direct and work in me and watch what happens. You'll be amazed.
Why am I so intrigued by lists? I see an article with a title like, "20 ways to leave your lover" and I want to know more about what the guy or girl is talking about. Not that I want to leave MY lover, by the way! If it said "How to leave your wife!" I'd be appalled and wouldn't give it a second glance. Why are those numbers in titles so attractive? What is it about a curt list that grabs my attention?
I think that I know. I want a shortcut. I am lazy. I need to succeed and I want to get there the comfortable way. I don't want to have to struggle to write a novel, earn more money or become a good father or husband. I want those ten easy steps.
To get anything worthwhile in this life takes work. Building a reputation is a lifetime pursuit. However, I don't want to spend a lifetime. Thus the lists grab my fancy.
It is much more exciting to think that I can become an award-winning author by following these "Five simple steps" than to have to go to college or through the college of hard knocks. Right? Is it that way with you?
Some people are list makers and list checker-offers. My wife is like that. She feels fulfilled when she can grab a pencil or pen and dash to her list and with bravado swipe through another task. Sometimes she gets frustrated because she can't do just that. However, for the most part her lists help her to do important stuff.
I like lists too, lists that other people make for me. However, I have discovered something important. A list doesn't make me more successful, useful, a better author or father. I might get some hints about these things but the success comes with hard work and time. Oh brother!
That is the part we hate isn't it? We don't want to have to go through all of the struggle that others have gone through. If I can shortcut the process, let me at it.
There is a Bible message here somewhere! Oh yeah! Just the other day, on one of my walks, I saw a small pile of yellow flakes on the ground. I stopped to have a look and noticed that they weren't flakes at all. They looked like little plugs of dirt. I picked on up on the dampened end of my finger and that is exactly what they were.
As I observed that tiny pile I noticed ants coming from a tiny hole nearby. I did what Solomon recommended and observed them. One by little one they came from and went into this tiny hole. The ones coming out were carrying the yellow dirt plugs. The ones going in were going to get more. There were a couple who looked like supervisors. They would go over and pick up an errant dirt plug and shuffle it to another location. The ants leaving the hole didn't just go to the nearest spot to deposit their cargo. They would walk a ways away from the hole and set it down as if it were an important little Ming vase. Or is it Vaze? It was fascinating.
I imagined the inside of that hole. More than likely there was no interior lighting. The ants were coming and going at a rather rapid pace. At times they would bump into each other but there didn't ever seem to be a fight or rude discussion. In and out they came and went. And over a short period they moved a lot of earth. There was no “5 easy steps”.
So, how do I become famous, successful or wise? Go to the ant thou sluggard not to the lists. Carry the dirt one chunk at a time. Time after time. With time allow God to direct and work in me and watch what happens. You'll be amazed.
Comments
Post a Comment