Jean Coleman's Blog - Posts Tagged "bugs"
THE ANT FARM
When our children were small we used to have an ant farm that was populated by twelve very busy little ants. The ant farm sat on top of a small bookcase in the dining room and I was completely fascinated by these hard-working little insects. I would pull a stool over by the bookcase and spend literally hours watching them scurry about in their little world.
In the top of the plastic container where the ants lived was a small opening and every day I would drop in three small bread crumbs, a grain or two of sugar and a drop of water. As I would feed them, I marveled that the ants didn't even know that I existed. Yet, there I was faithfully supplying all their daily needs and watching over their activities.
Then one day as the ants were digging a tunnel far underground at the bottom of the ant farm, the dirt shifted and caved in behind the helpless ants. They were trapped and it appeared to be a hopeless situation. The ants ran back and forth in panic trying to find a way out. They even formed a little circle and held a conference, rubbing their antenna together in some sort of ant communication. There seemed to be no solution and no way of escape.
But I was looking at their little world from an entirely different perspective and I could see that all was not lost. There was a way out. Directly above the ants was another tunnel and only a few grains of sand separated them from freedom. But unfortunately the ants didn't know that their freedom was close at hand. I could see the way out, but they couldn't.
I know this may sound foolish, but I tried to tell them about the escape tunnel right above them. "Dig up, little ants," I pleaded, but they just didn't have the ears to hear. They were separated from me by a wall of plastic and didn't even know I was there.
Finally in desperation I took my finger and moved it next to them, tapping on the plastic wall and hoping to frighten them into digging in the right direction, but they continued to be totally unaware of my presence. If only I had been able to become an ant, I could have gone right into the ant farm with them and shown them the way of salvation. We could have communicated, but I was helpless and there was absolutely nothing I could do. I watched the ants die there in the ant farm one by one. It broke my heart.
The people here on earth live in an ant farm of sorts, going to and fro in their own little world. Multitudes go about day after day, totally unaware that God is looking on, providing for their needs and concerned about their well being. God is with us and the majority of people don't know or even seem to care. And like the little ants, many are trapped and buried under a pile of sin with apparently no way out. The world is crumbling around them and they are doomed to perish. The wages of sin is death.
But praise the Lord! God has always been there with His eye upon the world. God loves the world so much that He sent His Son into the world to offer Himself as a way of escape.
Although I had not been able to become an ant, God became a man! He came into our world, right into our midst and declared, "I am the way, the truth and the life. Follow Me and I will lead you to life everlasting." Yes, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us so that whosoever would believe in Him would not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus came to set the captives free
In the top of the plastic container where the ants lived was a small opening and every day I would drop in three small bread crumbs, a grain or two of sugar and a drop of water. As I would feed them, I marveled that the ants didn't even know that I existed. Yet, there I was faithfully supplying all their daily needs and watching over their activities.
Then one day as the ants were digging a tunnel far underground at the bottom of the ant farm, the dirt shifted and caved in behind the helpless ants. They were trapped and it appeared to be a hopeless situation. The ants ran back and forth in panic trying to find a way out. They even formed a little circle and held a conference, rubbing their antenna together in some sort of ant communication. There seemed to be no solution and no way of escape.
But I was looking at their little world from an entirely different perspective and I could see that all was not lost. There was a way out. Directly above the ants was another tunnel and only a few grains of sand separated them from freedom. But unfortunately the ants didn't know that their freedom was close at hand. I could see the way out, but they couldn't.
I know this may sound foolish, but I tried to tell them about the escape tunnel right above them. "Dig up, little ants," I pleaded, but they just didn't have the ears to hear. They were separated from me by a wall of plastic and didn't even know I was there.
Finally in desperation I took my finger and moved it next to them, tapping on the plastic wall and hoping to frighten them into digging in the right direction, but they continued to be totally unaware of my presence. If only I had been able to become an ant, I could have gone right into the ant farm with them and shown them the way of salvation. We could have communicated, but I was helpless and there was absolutely nothing I could do. I watched the ants die there in the ant farm one by one. It broke my heart.
The people here on earth live in an ant farm of sorts, going to and fro in their own little world. Multitudes go about day after day, totally unaware that God is looking on, providing for their needs and concerned about their well being. God is with us and the majority of people don't know or even seem to care. And like the little ants, many are trapped and buried under a pile of sin with apparently no way out. The world is crumbling around them and they are doomed to perish. The wages of sin is death.
But praise the Lord! God has always been there with His eye upon the world. God loves the world so much that He sent His Son into the world to offer Himself as a way of escape.
Although I had not been able to become an ant, God became a man! He came into our world, right into our midst and declared, "I am the way, the truth and the life. Follow Me and I will lead you to life everlasting." Yes, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us so that whosoever would believe in Him would not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus came to set the captives free
