PROVERBS 6:6\u201311<\/b><\/p>\n
Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise<\/i><\/p>\n
(Prov. 6:6).<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cWhat proof is it of the degradation of the fall, that \u2018man, created in the image of God,\u2019 and made wiser than the creation, should be sent, as here (Prov. 6:6\u201311), to this insignificant school for instruction!\u201d Bridges wrote. \u201cThe ant, having no guide to direct her work, no overseer to inspect her, or ruler to call her to account, yet gathers with diligent foresight the summer and harvest store for her winter need.\u201d<\/p>\n
While this warning to the sluggard can be applied to every area of life, Bridges warns against spiritual sloth in particular. He reminds us that the Christian life is a difficult one, a way of grace, but a way of struggle and strife as we fight against sin. Too many Christians drift through life without \u201cstriving to enter in at the strait gate\u201d (Luke 13:24), without taking heaven by storm (Matt. 11:12). They take salvation for granted, hoping they will reap that which they have not sown. To strive toward heaven does not mean you are earning<\/i> your salvation any more than the apostle\u2019s exhortation to work out your salvation with fear and trembling<\/i> (Phil. 2:12) is a call to legalism. The Christian life is active and synergistic. It takes discipline and diligence\u2014concepts foreign to many in today\u2019s hedonistic and lazy culture.<\/p>\n
This admonishment should be especially heeded by youth. The ant prepares for the winter. Likewise, prepare for heaven in the days of your strength, then your conscience will be more at ease as your mind and body begins to fail. Many young people say they will reserve religion for their later years. Instead of living for Christ when they are young, they prefer to drink in the pleasures of the world, saving Christianity for old age. But Christ commands us to bring Him our first fruits. Who would dishonor God by giving Him the withered harvest of our later years and save the fresh abundance of youth for ourselves? Do not fall for such folly. Be as the ant, prepare for the winter, store up the harvest of grace in your youth, be diligent in your heavenly pursuits, guard against spiritual sloth and slumber. Call upon the power of God to raise you from spiritual poverty and to lighten your eyes, lest you sleep your way to death (Ps. 13:3).<\/p>\n
CORAM DEO<\/b><\/p>\n
Exodus 25\u201326<\/p>\n
Matthew 21:1\u201322<\/p>\n
Are you a spiritual sluggard? Are you diligent in your study of Scripture, in service to others, in prayer to God, in attendance at public worship, in watchfulness against temptation, in putting off sin and putting on godly fruit? If not, begin today by setting aside time for prayer, Bible study, and service to others.<\/p>\n
For further study: Luke 13:22\u201330 \u2022 1 Cor. 9 \u2022 Phil. 1 \u2022 Col. 1 \u2022 Heb. 12:1\u201313<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PROVERBS 6:6\u201311 Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise (Prov. 6:6). \u201cWhat proof is it of the degradation of the fall, that \u2018man, created in the image of God,\u2019 and made wiser than the creation, should be sent, as here (Prov. 6:6\u201311), to this insignificant school for instruction!\u201d Bridges wrote. … Continue reading “GO TO THE ANT”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12427\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}