Ant-imosity

We’ve been invaded by micro ants.  They are everywhere – counters, walls, floors, tables, chairs, and even our vinyl sofa.  When you don’t see them crawling on you, you still feel them crawling on you and they bite!  It’s maddening!  I feel no remorse as I spray them with the cleaning product that kills them instantly.  After all, this is war.

Their latest quest is my bottle of honey (the one shaped like a bear).  To protect it, I’ve put it in a bowl filled with water. The golden bear stands tall and secure surrounded by a moat that the ants can’t swim.  But, they don’t give up.  They swarm the sides of the bowl around and around and around in a frenzy.  Some dare to dive in believing they will be the heroes to reach the honey and defeat me once again.  Instead, they end up floating lifelessly in the water.  Silly little ants.  Occasionally, I empty the dish of their tiny carcasses and refill the water victoriously. Like I said, this is war.

Thinking about my ant-imosity, I wondered, Why did God even create them?  So, I did the scholarly thing. I “Googled” it.  Apparently they aerate the soil, carry seeds, pollinate plants, and help decompose other living things.  Blah, blah, blah. Here’s the thing, there’s no forest, soil, seeds, or things to decompose in my apartment (well, not yet).   In fairness to the ants, they’re just looking for food.  They don’t know the difference between a forest and my apartment. I get it.  But, they’re barking up the wrong tree, as it were, and they’re going to get wiped out, I guarantee.

King Solomon wrote about ants in scripture* teaching us that they are wise, diligent little creatures.  I agree.  They are definitely clever and no one could ever accuse them of being lazy.  They never stop night or day.

That is what got me thinking.  It seems like there is a lot of people like that. They scurry around from thing to thing in a frenzy trying to reach the proverbial golden nectar and may even drown trying to get it.  For what?  Hmmm…

In the Book of Ecclesiastes, King Solomon describes his own pursuit to find meaning and satisfaction from various things in the world – wisdom, riches, unbridled pleasure, partying, hard work, higher education, and great accomplishments amongst other things.  In the end, he concludes that without a relationship with God, none of it has value.  It all gets wiped out.  Just like the ants circling my honey bottle.  

“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” 

Mark 8:36-37 NKJV

*Proverbs 30:25 and Proverbs 6:6