The Ants Go Marching
Stooping to watch an ant hill, I have marveled at these very tiny but hard working and amazing creatures scurrying about on their little kingdom and I’ve thought how very much like us they are! So busy doing life just to survive. I have wondered about them and other creatures of the earth if they have an awareness at all of the One who made them. According to one silly song they do.
One of my fondest memories from my childhood is singing silly songs with my friends. Five Little Monkeys, Apples and Bananas, B-I-N-G-O, This Old Man and others. “The Ants Go Marching” was a fun one. The writer (unknown) personified “the little one” with normal everyday busy tasks of life but in the midst of all his busyness he doesn’t fail to recognize where his help comes from when he stops to “pray to heaven.” Whether the writer had this in mind or not I thought it interesting that it was included.
There is a big, big difference in a life that is lived with a constant awareness of God and one that is not. When we have God in our lives and we keep eternity in our hearts, we realize that this world is not our home and something much better awaits us in the distant future. We look longingly and hopefully for the day when we will live forever in heaven with the One who made us and loves us infinitely.
Keeping this longing and hope in our hearts does to this life what Jupiter does to earth, or what Mt. Everest does to an ant hill; it instantly puts everything in perspective and cultivates a deep and abiding peace and joy that cannot be shaken.
It gives purpose and meaning to everything we do, even tying our shoes. This hope keeps us marching and carrying our burdens effortlessly like the ant. “My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:30).
Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us that God has set eternity in the hearts of man. Is it possible for this eternity that God has set in our hearts to be lost or at least buried under the cares of this life? It is so easy for the demands of this life to distract us as we labor and toil over our little kingdoms…….and we forget.
So how do we keep the embers of hope and eternity burning constant in the hearts and minds of our children? By keeping it in our own hearts. They will realize it in their’s if we can manage to keep it in ours.
Keeping our heads up with our gaze fixed on our eternal hope in God amidst the pains of this life is a discipline that must be practiced in the small every day stuff of life. If we will practice it in the insignificant it will be strong, ready to use when we need it most and our audience will learn to do the same.
This world is not our home! Look up! We have a glorious future ahead of us!
Below are a few helpful suggestions. Thank you for reading!
- Singing is one of the best ways to stay lighthearted and keep an eternal perspective. Choose a few hymns or worship songs to learn and sing with your family.
- There are many lessons that can be learned from creation. Observe an ant hill with your child and talk about the value of hard work (Proverbs 6:6) and the concepts in this blog.
- Have fun learning “The Ants Go Marching” and sing it together while you work.
- Find a passage from the Bible about our eternal hope in God. Consider taking the time to meditate on one of them and share it during family devotions tonight.