Taking Initiative Series

It’s those who spend more money than they have and say tomorrow they’ll go on budget – but tomorrow never comes.

It’s men and women who fill their time with people but never tend the soil of their own interior lives. They never look deeply at the emotional and psychological realities that drive their behavior, affect their goals and shape their relationships.

The father who succeeds at work; has a lot of friends, but fails miserably to respond to the emotional needs of his wife and children.

It’s the student who does so well in school but fails to relate well with his family.

One reason why selective laziness is so deadly is that if other areas of our lives look good enough we can convince ourselves that we could be excuse from failing to take initiative in some areas of our lives. I remember talking a young father who had three kids who love to attend Kids Church. Their mom works on Sunday and so the father who works on a night shift has to bring the kids to church for them to come. Sometimes the father feels tired and would rather sleep on Sunday afternoon. The kids end up unhappy. One day I spoke with the father and encourage him to bring his kids to church. He told me he was tired. But I would not accept that excuse.

My dad was the most evangelistic man I know. He has brought more people to Christ on a one on one basis than anyone I know. He was the most diligent evangelist I know. He would walk visit people for hours to share with them. He was industrious and provided well for his family. He was a great spiritual man. I have never seen an elderly man who loved reading the Bible; the most prayerful man I’ve seen in my life. But my dad had a weakness. He easily lost his temper. And that temper hurt the most people that he loves. Even if we are good at 9 out of 10, that one area of laziness could be devastating.

Those of you with kids listen to me. There is a man of God in the Bible. His name is Eli, a well respected, successful priest. He did well in everything except that one area of selective sluggardliness – he would not discipline his sons. He had two boys who were little rascals, and though he indented to train them in the ways of godliness and integrity, it proved to be a more daunting challenge that he had anticipated. So he gave up. In time the little rascals, became big rascals. The trouble they eventually caused led to Eli’s downfall.

Let us now look at Proverbs 6:6-11 and see what we could learn from the ants.

“Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and be wise! Even though they have no prince, governor, or ruler to make them work, they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter. But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up? I want you to learn this lesson: A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— and poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.” (NLT)

First, the ant teaches us about the importance of knowing what you want. Do you know what you want? The ant does. It wants food. It dreams of food. It breathes food. People who do not know what they want are great disadvantaged in life. Napoleon Hill, known inspirational author, says “All great achievements starts with great desire.” I believe this is one reason why Jesus wants us to pray. You express what you want to God in prayer.