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# The ant has better time management than you and me
- URL: https://www.chrisknightwrites.com/the-ant-has-better-time-management-than-you-and-me/
- Published: 2026-09-30T10:30:13.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-30T10:30:13.000Z
- Author: Chris Knight
- Tags: Daily Devotionals, Book of Proverbs

Proverbs 6:6-11

I have reached the age where I can spend twenty minutes organizing a list of things I need to do instead of actually doing any of them. There is something strangely satisfying about creating a beautiful to-do list. Look at me being productive. Never mind that I have not accomplished anything yet. I have color-coded it.

Then Solomon tells me to go watch an ant. *“Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise!”* (Proverbs 6:6, NLT). That feels unnecessarily personal. Solomon points out that ants do not need someone standing over them reminding them what needs to be done. *“Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work, they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter”* (Proverbs 6:7–8, NLT).

The ant understands something I occasionally forget. There is a right time to do what needs to be done. Procrastination usually comes with a pretty convincing sales pitch. I will do it tomorrow. I work better under pressure. I am waiting until I have more time. I just need to watch one episode first. Suddenly it is three days later, the deadline is tomorrow and apparently I have decided panic is a productivity strategy.

Solomon warns about that kind of delay. *“A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit”* (Proverbs 6:10–11, NLT). The problem is not rest. Scripture consistently teaches the importance of rest. The problem is avoiding what God has placed in front of us to do.

Diligence is not about becoming a workaholic. It is about faithfulness. It is recognizing that our time, opportunities, responsibilities and abilities have been entrusted to us by God. Some things really can wait until tomorrow. But sometimes “tomorrow” is simply the place where I keep putting things I do not want to deal with today.

Maybe there is a conversation you need to have. An apology you need to make. A responsibility you keep avoiding. A step of obedience you already know God is asking you to take. Do not wait for the perfect moment. Sometimes faithfulness looks surprisingly ordinary. Do the next right thing. Make the call. Have the conversation. Start the work. Take the step and if you need additional motivation, apparently there is an ant somewhere making you look bad.