Ants
Bob Rakestraw
January 2, 2013
Imagine that you are sitting outside on a rock, a hill or a
chair, and you look down and notice a column of ants marching in single file,
each carrying something to a hole in the ground where they disappear. Coming
out of the same hole is another column of ants marching alongside of the first,
but heading in the opposite direction, probably to the same food source.
The ants seem to be doing their work well, as their ancestors
have been doing since the beginning of ant-life on earth. They eat, work,
reproduce, sleep and occasionally repair or move their nest. Then they die. The
seemingly-forever nature of this cycle of ant-life is, above all, to ensure the
perpetuation of the species. The ants, of course, are not aware of this cycle
of life; the instinct to carry on as the do is programmed in them from before
birth. They never stand back and consider the big picture of their lives; they
just do as their ancestors have done for ages.
These columns of ants remind me of the many people on earth
who simply move through life from birth to death without stopping to give
serious thought to why they are doing what they are doing—the overall purpose
of their lives. They simply follow the line of ants in front of them, doing
what the other ants are doing. And then they die.
There are many others, of course, who have considered such
matters. They may have even accepted some big ideas about God and life after
death. They now, however, either dismiss such notions as false or live as
though their religious beliefs have little or nothing to do with their daily
living.
There are still others who have thought—or been told—about
the ultimate questions and have adopted or been indoctrinated into a set of
religious ideas and practices that govern their lives in major ways. Of this group, some are living (often
sincerely) according to unbiblical religious systems while others are living,
or trying to live, according to the One who said, “I am the Way, the Truth and
the Life.”
All of these groups and categories need the grace of God
through Christ and the Spirit. I am thinking, however, especially of those who
know and accept something of the life and teachings of Jesus and his early
followers. They may think of themselves as Christians, or even as faithful
disciples of the Lord Jesus, and maybe they are. There are, praise God, many
such in this world. They know that they, and all people, have been created in
the image and likeness of God to be his representatives on earth, to reveal his
mind and will to those living in ignorance of the truth.
Yet there are also many who call themselves Christians but
live like ants. Of course, as humans, they have self-awareness, the ability to
reason and the power of the will. These capacities obviously set them far above
all animals. But as I observe them living they seem much the same as ants. They
are not all marching in a fixed line, true, but their pattern of life appears
to follow the customs, ideas and values of those around them.
They are heavily influenced by contemporary culture and majority opinions, and, except perhaps for attending church, they are driven by an established blend of worldly, materialistic goals and practices which they gradually have absorbed from others.
I am not making up this scenario. I wish I were. I have seen
it. Children who grow up under the care of such ant-Christians often turn out
to be the same as their parents or guardians. Fortunately and surprisingly,
other such children recognize the shallowness and emptiness of the ant-life,
and by God’s grace early in life, grow toward the way of the cross.
These may even notice their parents beginning to live lives
that are less and less self-centered and more and more God-centered. Such youth may not even realize that they are
being used by the Lord to show their earth-focused parents a heavenly view of
the big picture, just as God in the heavens may show his angels a view of all
living things on earth, including human beings and ants.
The ants and the other creatures are doing what they are
meant to do, but we human beings often are not. In this new year, on this
pilgrimage called life, let us resolve to regularly lift our heads from their
horizontal orientation and look up as well as out. Let us be willing to
challenge the status quo, step out of the ant column, and move with the
assurance and joy that God gives to those who think and live in harmony with
the big picture designed by God almighty for those made in his image and likeness.
