Go to the ant, O sluggard,
Observe her ways and be wise,
Which, having no chief,
Officer or ruler,
Prepares her food in the summer
And gathers her provision in the harvest.
Proverbs 6:6-8
My wife and I have three lovely daughters. Over the years we have found success and failure in our parenting journey. In many ways, parenting is like gardening. We cultivate, but we don’t change. We plant, but we don’t grow. We harvest, but we don’t ripen. Moreover, each day…each week…each year…each season, we have the opportunity to learn, to adjust, and to recalibrate our parenting ethos and strategy. It’s not necessarily a systematic planning, but is more of an overflow of our own faith-journey and walk of sanctification as parents and Christians ourselves.
One of the ways we’ve adapted our parenting strategy is through word pictures.
Word pictures have been useful throughout the ages to inspire, to connect, and to cause to feel a principle or an idea in ways that prose simply cannot. What’s incredible is that God’s Word is full of timeless word pictures that convey meaning, as well as echo into our minds and hearts deep truths of everyday life. These truths are often shrouded or hidden unless drawn to the surface with word pictures.
We get this idea when we hear things like, “I’m as hungry as a hippo.” We all know that hippos are huge, which usually leads us to then assume that when they’re hungry, they’re really hungry! Compare this idea with trying to convey the same urgency of hunger by simply saying, “I’m hungry.” In this second case, we may know the person is hungry, but it doesn’t carry the same weight or urgency of the hunger as the hippo word picture does.
How has this applied to our lives?
I’ve used word pictures in own parenting journey that has proven powerful in the lives of my children, and one in particular.
The story goes something like this…
A parenting principle we are trying to instill in our three daughters is self-discipline. This is most vividly seen in whether or not they make their bed.
One day, as we were discussing the Proverb of the day after breakfast I shared the story of the ant from Proverbs 6 with my girls…I repeated it several times and watched as it began to sink in. They received it well…they were inspired by this little critter of creation…and they adapted their morning habits to reflect the inspiration of the ant. We know they’re doing well with self-discipline by simply observing whether or not their bed has been made in the morning.
Well, while they still struggle with making their bed everyday, we are finding they (and one in particular) do it more often and without as many reminders after sharing the story of the ant.
How Does This Apply To Us Today?
- Consider the inspiration of the ant…
- Work is part of living.
- Self-disciplined and deliberate work is part of being an effective (doing the right things) worker.
- Self-discipline is wired into each of God’s creatures, and we have the privilege of imaging God as we live and walk in its tenor.
- Look for word pictures used in Scripture to apply to your everyday life.
- God has given us myriad examples of everyday living in His Scriptures to teach and inspire us to live according to His will.
- Take the time to meditate upon those and how you might apply them to your own lives.
- Look for truths in creation to inspire you to live according to God’s Word.
- While I write this post, I’m sitting in NW Arkansas on a family vacation with friends. After having a delightful time of devotion in God’s Word and observing my surroundings, I was inspired by God’s creation and decided to write this story.
- Everyday we are surrounded by God’s creation living out its design…do we have eyes to see and ears to hear?
- When we align ourselves with God’s design in our lives, we live according to His will and walk in His good pleasure.
May we all learn from the ant…self-discipline…and be inspired to walk according to the will of God!