Sunday, May 18, 2008

Discipleship and Ants


“Four things on earth are small, yet they are extremely wise: Ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer..... Proverbs 30:24-25

Ants are so tiny and frail and yet the Bible says they are extremely wise. The primary reason for their wisdom is because they store food in summer.

This morning I heard of a story of man who won an ipod video in a raffle. Realizing he did not have any need for it he sold it and took the money. Instead of saving the money he used it to upgrade his home entertainment system.

A few weeks later he was in need of money to pay bills and did not have any to do so. Why because instead of storing the money he used it.

In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has. Proverbs 21:20

The man was obviously the later and not the former. Not wise but a fool. Which one are you?

Now here’s the discipleship is relationship interface. One of the wisest things we can do is to be good stewards of our finances and resources. Discipleship is taken to greater heights of effectiveness when we display a life of wisdom to people we encounter and not just do Bible studies. So be wise and store, don’t be a fool devouring all that you have. In doing so you will be an example, will gain credibility and be more effective in making disciples.

Discipleship and Small Creatures


It has been a while since I have posted in this blog site. You can see how busy things have been if you visit my Just Me site. But I’m ready to write now. My last series of posts was a thread on Discipleship and the Zoo. This is a short run series based on Proverbs 30 verses 24 to 28:

“Four things on earth are small, yet they are extremely wise:
Ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer; coneys are creatures of little power, yet they make their home in the crags; locusts have no king, yet they advance together in ranks; a lizard can be caught with the hand, yet it is found in kings’ palaces."

The verses above speak of wisdom. More importantly it speaks not just of wisdom but the verse says extreme wisdom. The Bible tells us to observe nature around us and hopefully as we pay attention we can learn a truth that can help us.

Successful ministry involves 3 things: wisdom, commitment and spirit (power). Sometimes we focus too much on commitment and power we end up doing things with very little wisdom.

Over the next 4 posts I will using the verses on to glean insights on how we can be extremely wise in our discipleship making endeavors. So watch out for the this short series on Discipleship and Small Creatures.