There is scarcely any tiling in the whole creation from which we may not derive the most valuable in- struction. The ox and the ass, the crane and the swallow, are brought forward by God himself to teach and reprove us'' : and here we are referred for in- struction to the ant. She collects in summer the food that is necessary for her subsistence in the winter. She does it with incredible labour, dragging to her cell grains of corn, that one would scarcely conceive she should be able to move. And this she does *'^ without any guide" to direct her, or " overseer" to watch her, " or ruler" to call her to account. And, that her labour may not ultimately prove vain, she bites off, we are told, the ends of every grain, to prevent it from vegetating in the ground.
Go now to the ant, thou sluggard, and consider her ways : consider,
1. Her w^ise foresight —
[Has she a time approaching, against which it is needful for her to provide ; and hast not thou ? Is there not a time coming, when thou must stand in the presence of thy God, and give an account of every thing that thou hast done in the body, whether it be good or evil ? And hast thou not now to provide a righteousness wlierein to appear before God, even the right- eousness of our Lord Jesus Christ, wherein alone thou canst ever stand in the presence of a holy God ? Hast thou not a new nature also to obtain, in order to fit thee for the enjoyment
of the heavenly world? And is not the present the only
time when this provision can be made ? If thou neglect the present opportunities, wilt thou find them in the eternal world? Is there " any work or device to be executed in the grave, whither thou goest*^?" — — — If her work, which relates only to the short transient life of the body, is important, is not yours, which relates to the eternal interests of the soul, much more im- portant? Go then to the ant, and learn wisdom of her.]
2. Her voluntary labour —
[She has none to direct her : she is guided by instinct alone. But you have reason to guide you, and to assure you of the certainty and importance of those things which you have not yet seen with your eyes. You have God himself also insjiecting every thing that you do, and pledged to call you into judgment for it, and to assign you your everlasting portion according to
" Isai. i. 3. Jer. viii. 7. ^ Eccl. ix. 10.