I’m an ant and proud of it!

I was surfing the net and found an interesting article about the richest people in the world. As I read about the lives of these people I was surprised to see how many of them started with absolutely nothing and went on to become multi-billionaires with Warren Buffett now topping the list at $62 billion or thereabouts. Each seemed to come from a humble, and many times a very difficult background; one such person lives right here in the United States. Her story is quite interesting and her name is Oprah Winfrey.

Oprah was not very high on the billionaires list compared to some of the others; her net worth is just a little over $1.8 billion, but before dismissing that paltry sum, consider that she is an African American woman who was born to an unwed mother in abject poverty in Mississippi. At a very young age she was initially raised by her Baptist grandmother under strict religious conditions. Later she went to live with her mother in a Milwaukee ghetto where she was raped at nine years old and was regularly molested and sexually abused by a number of her relatives. Later she became sexually promiscuous for a while and got pregnant at age fourteen only to lose the baby to a miscarriage. She was an admitted drug user during this period of time and finally moved to Nashville where she lived with her father who was a barber. He raised her under strict rules and she turned her life around and went on to become successful beyond her wildest dreams. She is currently the highest paid female entertainer in the world and is perhaps the most recognized woman on the planet.

I was thinking about all of these billionaires and their amazing stories of how they rose to become the world’s richest and one thing they all had in common was that all of them seemed to enjoy their work and work they all did. There were no handouts or affirmative action set asides for them. They worked hard and they worked smart.

I believe with all of my heart that most everyone has an equal chance to succeed. The billionaires in this report came from all over the world. Most like Oprah came from abject poverty and difficult personal circumstance but they did not sit around whining about “poor little old me”, but instead just got down to business and worked harder than those around them, never giving up. Many had multiple jobs during their early years.

I arrived in Atlanta in 1970, homeless without a penny in my pocket. Now as I approach my golden years and start thinking about retirement I know that my wife and I are financially secure. We are not billionaires, but we can grow old without worrying about where our next meal is coming from. Anyone who has known me will tell you that I worked extremely hard all of those years from the time I was cleaning mortar off used bricks with a hatchet for fifteen dollars cash per day right up to today as I am in the process of closing a ten million dollar deal for our company.

As I look back on it, I do not regret a single minute of it. I truly believe that God intends for us to work hard; the Bible is chock full of examples beginning with “the beginning” in Genesis where the Lord worked six days, (not five) on His creation, before He rested. What do the French, (with their 35 hour work week), think of that one?

In Proverbs chapter 6 the Lord tells us to go to the lowly ant for our example. Although they have no ruler or even a captain ordering them to do it, they work and toil to provide their supplies in the summer and gather their food in the harvest. This same chapter then goes on to ask how long the sluggards will slumber, and warns them that poverty will come upon them like a prowler, (suddenly without warning), because of it. We should be like the ants.

I relate to the lowly ant. Since I am already financially secure I do not have to work that hard anymore, and no one can order me to work hard, but I seriously doubt that even to this day that anyone within our company works harder or longer hours. I do it because I believe that is how God designed us. I believe that being lazy is a sin. (Read the verses below.) God works hard and wants us to do likewise. He also gave us a brain which we should use to work smart. He also gives us Himself to petition for strength and wisdom and we should take advantage of it.

The Bible is clear that we can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens us, provided they are within His will for our lives, but most importantly we have to do our part too. There will be no lottery winnings and there should be no government handouts to able bodied persons, just hard work that can be fun depending upon how you look at it

Proverbs 18:9
He who is slothful in his work
Is a brother to him who is a
great destroyer.