Consider the ant

We have an annual problem at our house. Tiny little black ants will find their way into our house through openings I can't even see. It's a real day wrecker to hear someone call "There's ants in here!" It can be any room in the house but when they find food, watch out! One ant will become a hundred ants in no time at all. And after several times emptying the pantry and throwing out food they'd found there way into, I've had it with the ants.

Last night, I was reading my Bible and came across this verse:

Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones.
Learn from their ways and become wise!
Proverbs 6:6 (NLT)

Ants! Here, too! My first reaction to the lesson of the ants was not a positive one. I wouldn't consider being like an ant an example of wisdom. Persistence, perhaps (can you say an ant is pig-headed?); obnoxiousness, certainly; troublesome, you bet. At this time of year, they are more a picture of sin than wisdom to me. One bad habit, one little concession, one relaxing of the limits and before you know it, there's a lot more sin to be dealt with. And the longer you take to deal with it, the bigger the problem is.

So I suppose I can take a lesson from the ants today after all. The best way to avoid being over run is to deal with it as soon as you notice one.

Maybe I'll have to look at that passage again in October when they've slowed down again...