#shorts Part 24 — Consider the ‘Lowly’ Ant

(6) Go to the ant, you lazy person;
    observe its ways and grow wise.
(7) The ant has no commander, officer, or ruler.
(8) Even so, it gets its food in summer;
    gathers its provisions at harvest.

Proverbs 6:6-8 (CEB)

---

Hello Readers, hope all’s well. Time for another #shorts post.

Long-time Readers may remember I enjoy gardening. Or at least I like planting things and trying to help them grow. I haven’t had many successes so far but it is a great hobby to enjoy. Gardening has many benefits for our mental health, mainly because it’s so relaxing. It also gives a sense of accomplishment when we succeed at growing something.

I often get ideas for blog posts when I take care of my plants. For some reason this hobby turns my mind in a Spiritual direction. I suppose it’s because God works like a gardener with us, and our Spiritual development. For more about the Spirituality of gardening you can check out other blog posts of mine. The oldest one, going back to 2020, is entitled Seeds of Wisdom. More recent posts on this are Planted, not Buried, Reasons for Rain, and God, the Gardener. Check out those links if you’re interested.

So, what did I see in the garden that inspired me to write this time?? Ants. The ‘lowly,’ insignificant, beneath-our-notice ant. I found some in the garden, of course. And I remembered that this tiny creature has not one, but two mentions in God’s Holy Word. If the ‘lowly’ ant is important enough for God to mention twice in the Bible, we should pay attention too, right??

Ants are actually a vital part of a healthy garden, in case you didn’t know. So let’s consider the ‘lowly’ ant. Can we learn from observing it??

Hard-Working and Wise

There are two Biblical mentions of the ant that I know of. There could be more that I’m forgetting—my Bible knowledge is not yet encyclopedic. The first mention is in Proverbs 6, when God, through His Word, praises the ant’s hard work ethic.

(6) Go to the ant, you lazy person;
    observe its ways and grow wise.
(7) The ant has no commander, officer, or ruler.
(8) Even so, it gets its food in summer;
    gathers its provisions at harvest.

Proverbs 6:6-8 (CEB)

God flat-out tells us in verse 6 to observe the ant and learn from it. Verse 8 reminds us the ants are always busy gathering and harvesting food, so they have what they need. Much like growing food in a garden, if they could do that. And they do all this with no supervisor (“no commander, officer, or ruler”). Every ant colony actually does have a ruler in the form of its queen. But it’s true there are no supervisor ants keeping track of the worker ants in their daily tasks.

Ants get another mention in Proverbs 30. In this passage, God praises the Wisdom of the ant and how they store food in the summer. God compliments their Virtuous Prudence in providing for their own future needs.

(24) Four things are among the smallest on earth,
    but they are extremely wise:
(25) Ants as creatures aren’t strong,
            but they store away their food in the summer.

Proverbs 30:24-25 (CEB)

A great part of the Virtue of Prudence is thinking of the long-term and setting aside something for the future. Many people are lacking in the Virtue of Prudence, neglecting to save when times are good. For people weak in the Virtue of Prudence (no judgment, we all have our strong and weak points), God would like to direct their attention to the Prudent ant with Proverbs 6 and 30.

And that’s not all. Ants are a vital part of a healthy garden, like I said before. Their main benefit comes from aerating the soil with their tunnels, allowing oxygen and moisture to get to the roots of plants in the ground. And they perform other important jobs too. To learn more, let’s refer to the expert’s from the Old Farmer’s Almanac:

The Benefits of Ants

(SOURCE: https://www.almanac.com/content/getting-antsy-ants-garden)

Although some species, like the carpenter ant and the stinging fire ant, can be pests, generally ants are beneficial.

• Most ants nest in the ground, digging a labyrinth of tunnels that aerate the soil and allow moisture to get to the roots of plants. They also till the soil by bringing pebbles and particles to the top
• The leaves and insects brought into the nest decay and fertilize the surrounding plants.
• Ants act as decomposers, feeding on organic waste, insects, or other dead animals.
• Even carpenter ants keep the environment clean. By making their nests in dead or diseased wood, they accelerate the decomposition process. After the ants leave, fungi and bacteria grow in the galleries and break down the lignin and cellulose on large surfaces.
• Many ants are predators and feed on insects that attack lawns and gardens, and in the process of gathering food, they often pollinate flowers and distribute seeds.
• Ants are also the source of food for many other insects, birds, and mammals so important to the ecosytem.

So you see, ants are beneficial and even vital for the health of a garden. They help the environment they live in. Clearly this is God’s Design. God Created the ant to be an important part of its environment, helping the plants and soil. In God’s Infinitely amazing Creation, nature, even the ‘lowly’ ant is counted and has an important role to play. In that case, we should have more respect for the ant and stop thinking of it as insignificant and useless. They aren’t insignificant to their environment, and they aren’t insignificant to God. They’re part of His Plan too.

And this goes back all the way to Genesis 1. God is the one who Created this world, everything in it, and all the living things. That includes insects—creatures that crawl on the ground. In the case of insects, God Created them on the Fifth Day. And He said they were good.

If God said the ants and other insects were good, who are we to think or say otherwise?!?!

(23) There was evening and there was morning: the fifth day.
(24) God said, “Let the earth produce every kind of living thing: livestock, crawling things, and wildlife.” And that’s what happened. (25) God made every kind of wildlife, every kind of livestock, and every kind of creature that crawls on the ground. God saw how good it was.

Genesis 1:23-25 (CEB)

So the next time we’re about to squish a ‘lowly’, insignificant ant, let’s think twice. Do we really need to do that?? God said the ant was good, and He Designed it with an important purpose. God respects the ant, so why don’t we?? For those with gardens of any kind, know that ants are helpful to the land and the soil. They’re there for a reason, so we don’t help ourselves by destroying them.

This makes me think of another tip for homeowners: Never kill spiders. Yes, the spiders that so many people around the world are terrified of help the land they live on. One of the best things for homeowners and landowners to have are non-poisonous spiders. But that’s a whole ‘nother story. Let’s leave that alone for now.

That’s it for #shorts Part 24.

---

Enjoy my content?? Consider supporting my NEW Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/Tripl3N9ne

Well that’s all for this week. If you enjoyed today’s post, be sure to Subscribe using the link below. And please consider Supporting My Blog using the Tip Jar. Any amount is much appreciated!!

Until next time, be strong and do good!!

Your new best friend in Christ,

99:9

<<<EXALT THE LORD OUR GOD AND WORSHIP AT HIS HOLY HILL; FOR THE LORD OUR GOD IS HOLY>>>

---

Follow My Blog

Subscribe to my FREE Substack newsletter so you never miss any of my posts!!
https://999f64.substack.com/

Support My Blog