Peculiar? Me?

(Proverbs 6:6-8 KJV)  Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:  Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.

How are we supposed to be like the ant?  The first point seems to be having no leader.  That can’t be right, can it?  This is a case of interpretation.  Remember context, context, context.  The first context is the surrounding words.  The second context is the extended passage of scripture.  The third context is the entire scripture.  While I can never be such a scholar as to know all that the Bible has to say, the more I study the more the Holy Spirit can bring to mind what I need to know.  We know that Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our salvation.  We know that God is the King of creation and Jesus is our Lord, so in a sense we have a chief, officer and ruler.  BUT, God does not rule over us in the way implied in this verse.  I don’t know how familiar you are with military culture, but when an officer walks into a room who outranks everyone else, someone yells, “Attention!”  Everyone is expected to stop what they are doing and stand at attention.  You salute with the lowest rank starting and holding the salute until the higher rank returns it.  This is the peacetime army.  Maybe that kind of thing happens inside the anthill, but not out in the field.

We are in God’s front lines.  When the military gets to the front lines they no longer yell or salute.  When a patrol goes out they don’t call back for guidance on every move.  You know the mission.  You know your part.  You get to work. 

The ant does its job because the mission is built in.  We also have a built in job.  The Holy Spirit is given to us to lead and guide.  We should not need a supervisor to keep us on the job.  We are to pursue excellence because we have a heart set on holiness and seeing the will of God done.

Do you have that hunger to see Jesus glorified?  Do you desire to do the will of God?  Then get to it.  Some things should be obvious.  We prepare by study and worship.  We examine our hearts and repent when necessary.  Then we go to work.  At work we apply holy standards in a perverse world.  We demonstrate honesty and purity.  We are different, not because we try, but because we are.  As the King James says we are to be a “peculiar people.”  Get out there and be peculiar, but in a Biblical sense, please.

Obedience, Interpretation