Showing you can be trusted with what is expe
cted of you
MEMORY VERSE | Luke 16:10a
W E E K
3
K
ing Solomon was young
when he became ruler of Israel after his father, David. One night, God spoke to him in a dream and said, “Ask for anything you want me to give you.” Solomon had just been handed the greatest golden ticket of all time! He could have requested anything—unlimited money, power to defeat all his enemies, or even to be the best-loved, longest-living king of all time.Instead, though, Solomon made a different ask. “Lord my God, you have now made me king.
. . . But I’m only a little child. I don’t know how to carry out my duties. . . . So give me a heart that understands. Then I can rule over your people. I can tell the difference between what is right and what is wrong.”
Solomon asked for wisdom. And God gave it to him! In fact, Solomon became known as one of the wisest men to ever live.
Over the course of his life, Solomon shared many wise sayings that were later collected in a book called Proverbs. The first chapter of Proverbs says, “Proverbs . . . help you live
wisely. They lead to what is right and honest and fair. . . . They give knowledge and good sense to those who are young. Let wise people listen and add to what they have learned. . . . But foolish people hate wisdom and instruction.”
The wisdom recorded in Proverbs gives godly advice about nearly everything—from using words wisely to staying away from trouble. But some of the most famous passages talk about the value of hard work, like Proverbs 6:6-8.
You people who don’t want to work, think about the ant! Consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander.
The Ant & the Sluggard
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But it stores up its food in summer. It gathers its food at harvest time.
When was the last time you paid attention to an ant—other than to squash one on the kitchen floor?
To better understand what Solomon means about work, we can take a closer look at what ants are like.
Did you know that there are about one million ants on earth for every single human? Every single one of them works hard and fast. Like Solomon said, nobody lays out a set of rules for them. Nobody offers them an allowance or more screen time if they finish their work. God made them in such an incredible way that they stick with it and get the job done! In fact, some ants can lift up to fifty times their own weight. If you were that strong, you could lift an entire car! And ants use that super strength to store up their food, just like we see in Proverbs.
Ants also work smart. They leave a special trail of chemicals, called pheromones, that tells them where they’ve been, so they don’t get lost or repeat themselves.
Ants are also incredibly creative. They actually farm aphids in order to have a constant supply of the honeydew aphids release. And the ants’ creativity doesn’t stop there. In times of flooding, ants will even protect the queen by forming a lifeboat with their own bodies! Just like Solomon reminds us, ants do whatever it takes to gather the food they need and to keep their colony safe. They know how to get the job done—and they do it with only about 250 thousand brain cells.
But God made you with about ten million brain cells! He’s given you everything you need to work strong, smart, and creatively. And because God has given us so much, there’s so much more that we can do.
There are about one
million ants on earth for
Let’s
Talk!
Share with each other what you think that your
“work” is.
Work can mean a lot of things. For grown ups, it might be a job, being a parent, or taking care of the house. For kids, it can be school, learning a new musical instrument or sport, doing chores at home, or even hanging in there to finish an epic LEGO building project. Solomon says that a wise person doesn’t need a lot of reminders to work hard and throw all their effort into a project. Instead, they In the New Testament, Luke records some of Jesus’ words: “Much will be required of
everyone who has been given much.”
You are creative and strong.
You have a brain that works like no one else’s. You are determined.
And most of all, you’re made in God’s image.
That means that you can work hard at whatever it takes to show love to God and to the people He’s made. Sometimes that might look like raising funds to provide clean water for kids on the other side of the world. But sometimes that might look like cleaning your room without your mom reminding you five times. Or working hard to help your little sister build an epic LEGO® palace.
Whatever your work, remember Solomon’s wisdom:
You people who don’t want to work, think about the ant! Consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander. It has no leader or ruler.
But it stores up its food in summer. It gathers its food at harvest time.
Be wise. Work hard.
