The Rev. Dr. John Hatcher

The Bible says, “Go to the ant...observe her ways and be wise” (Proverbs 6:6). Well, Sunday afternoon, I did. I got a little wiser. The wisdom: when you observe the ants, keep your distance. Now, I nurse more than six bites on my ankles. My yard has enough ants to paralyze every drug pusher in Atlanta.

If the ants wanted, they could march right into my home—through the many cracks—and completely eliminate the Hatcher family in our sleep. Thousands and thousands of fire ants claim my yard as their home without paying one dime in rent.

Now if the Bible lifts the lowly ant as an example, I've got to honor them. The Bible exalts the ant because he's a hard worker. God wants us to be more like ants. Do you notice the proliferation of ant mounds as winter approaches? Ants prepare for Y2K every year. They constantly collect food, dig deep into the heated earth, and survive happily. Every year.

Interestingly, some of our youth attended last Friday night's service at Brownsville Assembly of God in Pensacola ( the site of the awesome revival going on for five years). The Rev. Steve Hill, Brownsville evangelist, spoke on the subject “Consider the Ant.” Casey Wilkerson, wife of our minister of youth, took good notes and shared them with me.

Just the facts: 15,000 kinds of ants; ants are always looking for food even when in danger; no matter what's in front of them, ants go forward; ants do not fight among themselves; ants care for one another; and more.

The big thing about ants is the queen. The queen ant. All of life centers around the queen. The reason six ants got their jaws in my ankles has to do with the queen. Anytime any ant thinks the queen is threatened, he goes on the attack. Rather successfully, I might add.

The queen ant is the all-in-all purpose of the ants (That will preach if you are thinking about you and me and the King of Kings). When you see a little bitsy ant struggling with a comparable huge chunk of food, he's taking it to his queen. It's not his prize with which to sit down and munch. He's struggling for the queen.

Therefore, do you want to get ready for Y2K? Observe the ant. Want to prepare for the future? Observe the ant. Want to make sense out of life? Observe the ant. Want to find purpose in life? Observe the ant. Directions: open your front door; walk out into your yard. They are there. Hard at work. Observe!

Just remember not to mess with mama.

The Rev. Dr. John Hatcher is pastor of River's Edge Community Church in Fayetteville.

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