1.The Eagle:
2.A Lion
3.A Sheep
4.The Ants
But we will be talking majorly on ants
Prov.6:6-7
“Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise.Which, having no captain, overseer, or ruler, provides her supplies in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest”
#There are over 11,000 different kinds of ants. They live in colonies numbering from a few to over 20 million. There are approximately 1 quadrillion ants in the world today. (This is a 10 followed by 15 zeros!) Ants are so numerous that scientists say that if all the ants in the Amazon rain forests were weighed, they would weigh four times more than all the other specials of mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, living in that area, combined!
Ants are so important that some people devoted their whole life to study it….
Lets learn about ants before we learn from them:
Ants are probably the most highly developed social insects. Each colony contains at least one queen. The workers, who are all sterile females, care for the queen, enlarge, repair and defend the nest, care for the young and gather food. Some workers perform only one job throughout their lives while others may change their tasks. The soldier ants are specialized workers whose function is to guard the nest.
The nests are usually underground and are made of numerous passages and chambers. There are nurseries where the larvae develop, a Queen's chamber, store rooms and rest rooms. Some species of ant have special chambers for growing fungi. Workers are continually making new chambers.
In cold weather the developing larvae are moved further down in the nest to give them more warmth. In Europe an ants' nest may consist of 12 or more mounds of earth, each about 0,9m high, connected by underground tunnels. A nest of this size would contain millions of ants. The ant colony is kept together by chemicals produced by the queen. These chemicals are passed between the workers in their saliva. The workers leave trails for others to follow by placing secretions from their mouths on the ground. The workers can also produce alarm chemicals. Foreign ants are identified by their odour. When two ants meet each other, they smell each other with their antennae. If both are from the same colony, one may regurgitate a drop of liquid for the other.
During a few days in the summer, large, winged ants can be seen taking to the air from the nests. The young queens are chased through the air by the males. A queen may mate with several males and she receives enough sperms to last through her lifetime: The sperms are stored in a special sac in her body. The male dies soon after mating but the queen returns to the ground. She tears off her wings and starts to build a nest. Sometimes a queen returns to the old nest to join the old queen in producing eggs.
As said earlier,there are many different species of ants. Some species are known as slave makers. They raid the nest of other species and carry away the larvae. When the larvae change into adults they work for their captors.
Harvester ants gather seeds and store them in their nests. Parasol ants cut pieces of leaves which they take to their nest and chew into a pulp. They have special chambers in the nest where they grow a fungus on the leaf pulp. This fungus then serves as food for the ants. When the young queens fly from the nest, they carry a piece of this fungus in their jaws. They will use it when they build a new nest.
Other species of ants "milk" other insects such as aphids. Aphids have piercing mouthparts which they put into plant stems; they then suck out the plant's sap. The dairy ants stroke the aphids on the back with their antennae to make them produce a drop of sugary liquid called honeydew. The honeydew is then taken back to the nest.
The weaver ants make their nest from leaves. They hold the larvae in their jaws and gently squeeze them to make them produce silk. The ants then use this silk to join the leaves together.We also have carpenter ants. They are found in dead wood, such as trees, fallen logs, stumps, or even in houses.
In Proverbs 6:6 King Solomon wrote, "Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways and be wise." Later on in the same book he wrote, "The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Proverbs 30:25. Since this wise and good King has recommended that we go to school to the ant, let us do so for a while and learn. I am sure it will be delightfully interesting
1.Ants make preparation for the future: Ants don’t know the meaning of procrastination ! They don’t wait til the weather turns cold before they are preparing. They gather food while it is still warm and take it into their colony ! Many of those who work hard all day will never eat of the food they are preparing because their they will die before cold weather……but they want to make certain that their families are taking care of.( Proverbs 30:25)
There is little that can be achieved without adequate preparation. God’s words says ”So Jotham became mighty because he prepared…”(2Chr.27:6)
2.Ants are well organized: Ants are divided into three,when they are in a colony.The workers,queen and males.They are so well organised that they carry out their respective tasks throgh division of labour.All these done without a leader or a commander.
We will get much done in our brief life on this planet if we learn orderliness from the ant. (1 Corinthians 14:40)
3. Ants are persistent: Whenever an obstacle is placed in the way of Ants, they always find a way round such obstacles. Napoleon said, "Victory belongs to be persistent" We must never give up so easily in the face of obstacles. There are many obstacles in life that are to be overcome. As long as you keep trying you will get past whatever is blocking your path.(Gal.6:9)
4. Ants are not selfish :They have an unbelievable spirit of unselfish unity. If they find out something eatable immediately they pass on the message to others. If a scout ant discovers a food resource which provides more than an individual serving, he quickly leaves a trail of pheromones to help the other ants find the shortest path to it thus saving them time to reach it. Generosity and cooperation feed the nest. Hoarding is not practiced by ants.
As a believers, you must be generous. Be a source of blessing to those around you. By that you are creating a success zone for yourself.( 2 Kings 7:9 )
5. Ants are great planners: When it is winter, they store up enough food in their colony. During winter, when the cold is becoming unbearable, they never lack anything. Apart from this, a typical anthill is very much like a well-planned modern city. It has streets,supply-rooms, hatcheries, barracks etc. Ants are better planners than some individuals. It was not raining, when Noah built the Ark. He had to plan ahead, because He knew the flood would surely come. Where there is no plan, there is no hope.
The future belongs to planners. Planning puts you in control of the future. Planning makes you smile at what others are crying about. Those who plan well can never be caught unawares and are never afraid of the future
6. Ants are dedicated and determined: You can destroy an anthill, it will be back in few days. Ants are extremely determined and dedicated to their tasks. We must know that one determined person can make a significant difference, and that a small group of determined people can change the course of history. Extraordinary people in life are ordinary people with extra ordinary amount of determination. Many times the difference between failures and achievers is strong determination!
7.Ants cooperate, they maximize the power of teamwork: If a load is too big for an ant to handle alone, the lone ant signals to others around that it needs help. Sometimes it takes a lot of ants to move that bread crust…that is teamwork. In fact you seldom, see the ant by itself.
According to Andrew Carnegie,Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability,to direct individual accomplishments towards organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results. If you want to see farther, you need to stand on other people’s shoulder. Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than the one where they sprang up.( Ecclesiastes 4:9-12; 3 John 1:8; Proverbs 27:17; Psalm 133:1)
8.Ants care for the young ones: Ants don’t forsake their young ones. They feed them and carry the eggs while travelling.They even have a way of disinfecting their young ones by literally spitting out formic acid.
9.Ants are hardworking. Ants always keep themselves busy all day long doing something.They are noted for carrying objects that are bigger than them. This is only made possible through sheer hard work and strength. Ants are not scared of heavy task, but rather take pleasure in lifting these objects to their colony. If we don’t look at how big a task is, we would easily accomplish task that seemed insurmountable.
In life it is no longer a secret that hard work is the father of high worth. Those who will not work hard have settled for hard life.
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