Little Giants

There’s a very small insect that lives underground in large and well-organized social groups. Can you think of an insect that fits that description? We are thinking about ants. Ants are a very peculiar creation of God, which we don’t often stop to think about. They are very small and we may step on them without noticing them; we may exterminate them from our homes because they are invading our kitchen and making trails on our floor.

Let me give you a couple of interesting facts about this little insect called “ant.” When ants fight, they fight unto death! I can testify to that. When I was a child, I used to watch these little insects crawling all over my backyard. Sometimes I would see them holding on to a much larger insect, like a beetle or a lady bug, and they would not let it go until they died or captured the insect.

Before Christ left this world, He commanded us, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). The question is, “Am I willing to die for preaching the gospel?” Are you willing to do the same? Are we fighting to preach the gospel until we die? Are we standing firmly for the truth with all our heart and all our might?

Every moment of every day, ants are ready for battle to protect and serve their companions. Shouldn’t that be our daily goal? We are to be ready to stand for the gospel until the end just like the apostle Paul who said, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7).

Have you marveled at the sight of a colony of ants moving back and forth along a trail between a source of food and their home? Every time ants go away from their nest, they leave trails of home-finding pheromone as they go. Pheromones are chemicals produced by glands in the ant’s body. These chemicals are used by ants to communicate with their family.

Can you think of a person who left trails wherever he lived? Abraham did; he would build an altar in every location he lived. Not only did Abraham build an altar, he also taught his heathen neighbors about God and invited them to worship with him. Then when he moved away, the altar remained as a memorial to the living God He served.

We also can leave a trail for God wherever we go. No, we don’t have to build altars everywhere we go, but we can hand out pamphlets and books about Jesus as we go to school, to work or even shopping. We can go canvassing door-to-door and leave books about Jesus Christ in neighborhoods around the country. But if you don’t have a pamphlet in your hand, there is a powerful way you can leave a trail for Jesus—by being a kind and loving Christian that shines with the love of God. “The strongest argument in favor of the gospel is a loving and lovable Christian.”—The Ministry of Healing, p. 470. [Emphasis added.]

Are you faithful and committed, like the ant in her duties, in carrying the gospel to the world until the Lord comes?