I was sharing this to our Youth service last Saturday so I thought I might share it here as well. In the Book of Proverbs, we were told to follow the ants (Proverbs 6:6-8 which was written by King Solomon). King Solomon was the wisest king and it is interesting to find out why such a wise king asked us to look at the ants. It is also interesting at first to know that the Bible on Proverbs 30:24-25 actually says that the ants “are small” and have “little strength”.
HOWEVER, they are exceedingly/extremely wise! Why? Because they “prepare their food in the summer”.

Let’s observe first what a sluggard normally does and the cause of being a sluggard by reading Proverbs 6:9-11.

A sluggard always says “later, later” or “Just a bit more rest”. “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to relax”. Procrastinate, that’s what we normally do, don’t we? We always thought that we can do something a bit later. What we often forget, is what comes next for being lazy! Your poverty will come like a robber (something unpredictable, we don’t know when) and your need like an armed man (we won’t be ready for it!). Often we regret what we did in the past: “If only I worked harder…..”, “If only I didn’t go to the party and studied more….” you fill in the blank yourself.

Now, back to Proverbs 6:6-8 and learn from the ants, shall we?

Learning from the Ants

[1] Motivation
Verse 7: “It has no commander, overseer, or ruler” (NET).
What’s your motivation in studying, working or serving God? Do we do what we do because someone told us to? Because someone keeps on checking on us? Is it your boss in your workplace? Is it your lecture/tutorial attendance form? Or maybe your pastor/leaders at church? The right motivation comes from inside, not from the outside. It doesn’t depend on your situation or whom you are working/serving with. The ants motivation doesn’t come from the Queen (the Queen is there to breed, not to lead the ants). How about your motivation? The purest motivation is always to glorify and please God!

Remember Collosians 3:23? Whatever you are doing, work at it with enthusiasm, as to the Lord and not for people!

[2] Plan ahead
Verse 8-9: “it prepares its food in the summer; it gathers at the harvest what it will eat” (NET)
The ants always plan ahead. They gather the food preparing for the winter. They work hard during the Summer where food supplies are abundant and enjoying them during the Winter season, when food supplies are scarce.

Do you realize when is your “Summer” and when is your “Winter” season? Do you know when to work/study hard and when you need to rest? Have you planned for the future? Have you done your best in whatever you are doing at the moment? To study hard to get a job in the future; To work hard for your savings; To serve God wholeheartedly for your “heavenly investment?” (Might also want to check out the Parabel of the Dishonest Manager/Unjust Steward on Luke 16:1-15).

Know that whatever you do now will not be in vain no matter how silly or unrelated it may be to you. Maybe you are working part time in a restaurant or maybe you are studying something that you think is unrelated to your course or whatever it may be, God can always make something good out of it. You’ll learn something that you would never have thought before without realizing it!

[3] Initiative
The ants “prepares” and “gathers”. They are actively seeking for the food. They go out from their nests, their “comfort zone”. How about you? Are you always on your comfort zone, too lazy or too scared to go out, perhaps?

Proverbs 22:13 – The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside! I shall be killed in the streets!”
Are you like that? Too scared to even try something that you haven’t done before? Take the initiative like the ants. There are dangers waiting for them outside their nests, but they still go for the goal. As a Christian, remember that you always have God. Sometimes we are wondering on the valley of darkness, but know that God is always there with you (Psalm 23:4).

[4] Teamwork
When an ant can’t carry a large chunk of food, the others help. All of them together carry the chunk back to the nest. Learn from them! Do whatever you are doing together with others, especially when things get tough! Always know that you are never alone in this world. You are not a loner!

It is important though to find friends who share the same vision/goal as you do. If not, you’ll all stumble together! Find some positive and encouraging friends near you!

[5] Focus
Focusing on the goal is very important! The ants focus on one thing: to prepare and gather the food for the Winter season. How focused are you at the moment in doing your responsibility? Don’t look at others (the ants don’t look at other ants when they work) and certainly don’t compare yourself with others!

Find out what makes you lose your focus at this moment. A person? A hobby? A behavior? A thing? Run from it just like Joseph who ran from Potiphar’s wife! Sometimes we thought that we could fight it, but most of the time, we just couldn’t! Simply run from it helps you to focus! If you can’t study at home, go to the library! If Facebook or playing games make you unfocused, stop and run away from your computer!

[6] Persistence
The ants are persistent! They just never gave up! No matter terrain they are going through, they’ll just keep on carrying the food without ever giving up! How about you? Do you give up easily? Stressed out when bad things happen? Learn from the ants and never give up trying! God always want you to learn when you fail. Keep your hope and keep praying to Him!

This was a cell group resource that I shared to my cell group members a couple of weeks ago based on Ephesians 4:1-6. Feel free to use, give a feedback, and modify to your cell group needs.

Why do we have to maintain the unity of the church?
How do we maintain the unity of the church?

Hopefully you can share and teach your cell group members how important it is to maintain the unity and teach them why it is important.

IceBreaker: Have you ever known a friend who walked out of a church or from a ministry? What’s his/her reason?
(this question is to identify and stress out that these problems are real; that many Christians walk out from church or from a minsitry mostly because of personal problems with someone or with their leaders)

Many Christians often walk out from church because they are disappointed with the church (they didn’t get what they wanted), with the leader or the pastor, or with people inside the church (dislike, hatred, annoyed, etc). We even see that there are so many Christians’ denominations nowadays that actually divide us from ever become as ONE Body of Christ.

So let us learn how to maintain the unity of our church for God and the reason why it is important to maintain such unity. Let’s look at what Paul taught us.

Read Ephesians 4:1-6.

¹I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, ²with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, ³eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ⁴There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Q: THEREFORE…………..
This means that we need to understand/read the passages before. In Ephesians 1-3, we learnt that we were the elected, the children of God who have been saved by His Grace alone and not through our good deeds. We are Christians, saved from the dark into the light. We’ve all been united regardless what we are (Gentiles and Jews) into His Kingdom. He died for our sins and for our trespasses so that we may be one in Him.
THEREFORE, as people who have been called by God, we need to live a life worthy of the calling!

We can actually divide verse 1-6 into 3 parts:

• Verse 1: The Goal (to live worthy of the calling)
• Verse 2-3: How to maintain the unity of the church?
• Verse 4-6: Why do we have to maintain the unity of the church? Based on what?

Q: What did Paul want us to do?
A: To live worthy of the calling by having these traits: humilty, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another in love, and eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit.

Q: Paul “urged”. What does urge mean? and why do you think Paul used “urge” instead of “ask” or “want”?
A: Because it is so important and because he knows that it is not an easy thing to do.

How do we know that it is important? If we look at the opposite things he wanted us to do, we can understand straight away:

• Humble vs Proud
• Gentle (Meekness,Long Suffering) vs Harsh
• Patience vs  Impatience
• Love vs No Love?

Imagine what will happen in the church if all congregation members are proud, harsh, impatience, and have no love towards one another! That church will be gone in a second!
The things that Paul wanted us to have, are actually similar to the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23.

HUMILITY
Q: Why is it important to have a humility at church?
A: Look at an example: Satan. He was one of the greatest angel but then he fell because he wanted to be like God. He was arrogant. Why is it dangerous to be arrogant at church? Because we’ll feel better and smarter than the other members. We’ll feel that we know more and “holier” than the others. Then we’ll love to critize others to show that we are better than them! How often do you feel that you are better than your other friends at church simply because you are not doing what they are doing wrong?

GENTLENESS (MEEKNESS, LONG SUFFERING)
In the original translation, it means “Power under control”. Often used as a term to tame wild animals. It means power under God’s control. We don’t let our emotions controlling us.

Q: What should we do when we have different opinions with one another?
A: We should go through the differences without attacking one another. We will have different opinions with one another and when that happens, what do we do? Often we get angry because of very simple and silly mistakes that others do. We get harsh and let our emotions control us and dislike/hate that particular person. Sometimes we let harsh words come out from our mouths!
Be gentle towards one another and understand that everyone can make mistakes, including yourself!

PATIENCE

Q: So what should we do when someone makes a mistake?
A: Be patient and understand that we are all human beings who can make mistakes, forget things, or can’t see what others see. Be patient and forgive them. We are not supposed to be a judge who loudly claim how low they are and punish them harshly! Your pastor, your leader, or even a friend at church can make mistakes. Often we know what their weaknesses are but instead of helping and supporting them, we point that mistakes loudly and judgmentally!

We can help them out. When your leader forgets, you can help to remind them. When your leader makes mistakes, you can help by telling them about the problem (and if possible, a suggestion to solve the problem). These are much better than:

• Telling others how ignorant your leader is and that he/she doesn’t care about your ministry.
• Thinking how unworthy a person is to be your leader (and subconsciously you think that you can do better than him/her)

Remember how patient our God is with us? How often do you fall into sin but you know deep inside that He still loves you? Can’t you do the same to your brothers and sisters? No body is perfect!

BEARING WITH ONE ANOTHER IN LOVE
Q: What does this mean?
A: Help one another and help other people when they do their ministries. Pray for them and teach them with love. When they stumble, encourage and help them to go through with it. If we see something lacking on other ministries, we can offer our help because we are all doing the ministry for God. We are not supposed to compete with each other and prove that our ministry is much better than the others! Instead of complaining and just critizing, help each other out!

Eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace
EAGER – Try our best and try hard to maintain the unity even though it is not easy. Also, do this continuously!
Peace -We always try to maintain peace. It doesn’t mean that we let people to be sinful or do things wrong. We are not supposed to stand idly when we see the wrongdoings. Jesus always taught us to love when we critize others and to pray with one another.

Also, read Colossians 3:12-16 (Different congregation/church, but the same message by Paul)

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO BE UNITED? (verse 4-6)

Paul taught us to be one not because we do whatever it takes to be one, but because we are ONE in Christ, because of 1 GOSPEL MESSAGE. If you observe these passages, the word “One” is repeated many times here. One Spirit (the Holy Spirit), One Lord (Jesus) and One Father. If there are arguments or different opinions about the Gospel or about God the Trinity, then we MUST make it right. Paul didn’t teach us to be quiet when people misinterpreted or insult the Word of God for the sake of unity. However, if we have different opinions about things out of these, then we are not supposed to fight with each other!

One Body. Body of Christ. Read 1 Corinthians 12.

One Baptism
Q: What does this mean? The style of baptism? At what age do we have to be baptise? Or Where we should be baptised?
A: No. Baptism here means a symbol, that we all have been baptised in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. One baptism to make us realise how sinful we are, how we have buried our “old self” to become a new person in Christ. A symbol that accepts Him as our Savior. It doesn’t matter how we are baptised or where!

Check out 1Corinthians 12:13 – “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body— Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.” Read 1Corinthians 12:23-27 too.

Q: As a congregation in our church, when something goes wrong in our church, what do we do?
A: We usually complain, blame the pastor, blame our leaders, talk behind the back/gossiping, etc.
However, if we are ONE, ONE faith, ONE God, ONE Hope, ONE Body of Christ, aren’t we supposed to be part of it? Aren’t we supposed to help, participate, and serve in it? If we concern that a church is not doing what it needs to be done, shouldn’t we be part of it, take the initative and help the church to glorify God even more? It’s much better rather than sitting in the corner and complaining that the church should have done better. Take the part and join in! Help your leaders, help your pastor! It’s not their church, it’s YOURS too!

Take a look at Jesus’ prayer to His Father in John 17. He even prayed so that we may be united!

Q: Why is it important to be united? (based on Jesus’ prayer)
A: So that everyone knows that we are the children of God and so that He may be glorified! How can we be the light of the world if we are so busy stabbing one another inside our church?

One day, all of us will be judged by God (even Christians) and be responsible in what we do in the world! Let’s make sure that we do what God wants us to do!

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Read more here.