Overcome Spiritual Sluggishness

Proverbs 6:6 Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.

1. The queen ant is one member of an ant colony who is the key to success for every ant nest. When the queen of the colony dies, the colony can only survive a few months.

2. The queen ant has a general sense of how she can provide for colony needs. She does her part by being the one who lays the eggs. Some queens can produce millions of eggs in a lifetime.

3. Queen ants differ from the rest of the ant colony in several ways.

a. For one thing, queen ants can live an incredibly long time – one scientist had a queen that lived for almost 30 years.

b. Beyond their longevity, queen ants are almost always bigger than other members of their colony.

b. Finally, you can ID a queen by noting how much other ants pay attention to it. Typically, worker ants will climb all over their queen. They will be feeding and cleaning her as well as helping to secure eggs as she produces them.

In a similar way we also have someone who is the focus of our faith as believers. His name is Jesus. He is the key not only for our survival, but He is key for us obtaining the status “righteousness of God.” Just as the queen ant is committed to the success of the colony, Jesus was committed to building the kingdom of God. He did His part by laying down His life on the cross for our sins so that we can be forgiven.

Just as the queen will bring about millions of new lives from her eggs, Jesus is the eternal Word of God who produces new life in all who believe in him.

He is different than the rest of us in many ways.

Though He walked the earth in flesh and blood just as you and I, He did so without sin.

Besides that, He always was, and always will be. He is eternal

He is all powerful and all knowing, He is everywhere at all times

In the same way that we are able to determine which ant is the queen by the attention the other ants give her, the world should be pointed to Jesus by our love, commitment and obedience towards Him.

That’s what we want to focus in on today.

· Is our attention on Him? Are we focused on Him?

· Do we value Him far more than any other thing in our lives?

· Are we sluggards, when it comes to our spiritual disciplines?

Genesis 2:8-9

8 And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.

When we look at the beginning of all creation, we see this picture of perfection. God had created all kinds of things both living and non-living things. He created the Heavens and the earth, he created light, He created the waters and all the living creatures in the waters. He created land and all the living creatures on land. He created air and all the birds that fly in the air. He made man and placed him in the garden of Eden, and God said it was good.

In the garden he made plants that were beautiful to behold with the eyes and plants that were good for food. He created rivers coming out of Eden which watered the surrounding gardens. It was beautiful, it was a lush paradise.

But there were stipulations. There were certain things that they must do such as tend to the garden, be fruitful, multiply and there were other things which they must never do, if they were to remain in this beautiful paradise.

Genesis 2:16-17

16 But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden— 17 except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”

The Lord had given them all they needed to live life to its fullness.

But to test their obedience, the Lord also placed a tree known as “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” in the middle of the garden. Would they be content with all that God had provided them or would they be discontent by wanting more than what God has provided?

Would they believe the words of God?

Genesis 3:3-4

3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

Or would they believe satan instead?

4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

By the way, satan uses the same tactics today. He tells the saints of God that:

· “You don’t need to read your bible”

· “You don’t need to spend time in prayer”

· “You don’t need to go to church”

· “You don’t need to go to bible study”

· “You don’t need to be in community with other believers”

· “You don’t need accountability”

· “You don’t need to resist temptation”

He not only says these things, but then he adds “You will not surely die.”

Then what happens? You become sluggish in these spiritual disciplines, and eventually you will find yourself spiritually lifeless. Before you know it, you’re a slave to that same sin that you were once freed from and your relationship with the Lord is hindered.

That’s what happened with Adam and Eve. They did not listen to God, instead they listened to the devil. At some point they either felt discontentment in what the Lord had provided, or they felt as if God was holding something back from them.

Either way, they had stopped doing what they normally did to sustain a thriving relationship with God, they gave in to their sinful desires. Their sin illustrates to us that they did not trust God, nor did they obey Him. They took of the fruit of which He had said not to eat.

Disobedience is a big relationship killer as it separates us from God.

Genesis 3:8-10

8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”

Though these few verses point to the beginning of the fall of mankind, they are helpful in getting a picture of what the relationship between God and man looked like before the fall.

· Both the man and the woman were familiar with the sound of the Lord God walking through the Garden. They also recognized His voice as He called out to them. This implies that they had heard His voice many times before and they knew it was Him walking in the garden. (imagine what that must have been like)

· Immediately after they sinned, they instinctively hid themselves from the Lord. They had spent enough time with Him to know that He was a perfect, Holy, and righteous God. They had a reason to hide as they were ashamed of what they had done.

· Thirdly, the Lord God ask Adam “Where are you?” not that God did not know where Adam was. But rather this is the first time that Adam hid himself from the Lord when he heard him walking in the cool of the day (evening). Perhaps prior to this, Adam anticipated and maybe even ran with delight when he knew that the Lord was walking in the midst of the garden. Now because of sin & shame that is associated with sin, that is not the case.

God had proven to be the faithful God that He is by appearing to the man just as He had done previously. But the man however was unfaithful to God and that is the reason for this question. It was so that Adam would examine his life and realize the seriousness and the weightiness of his sins.

When we disobey God’s word, shame comes into our lives, and will ultimately brings separation in our relationship with Him. Adam hid himself among the trees, as to use the trees as a barrier between God and man. Sin creates barriers between you and God. Because of what he did, all mankind was affected.

Romans 5:12

12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—

From that moment on Man’s relationship with God was hindered and was in desperate need of being restored. This sinful nature of Adam’s was passed on from generation to generation.

╂ How is our relationship restored with God?

Romans 5:18 (NLT)

Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone.

The way that our relationship with God is restored is through Jesus Christ. Because of what Jesus did on the cross we can be reconciled back to God. It starts with asking for forgiveness for our sins and accepting what Jesus has done as sufficient payment to cover our sins.

╂ How do you nourish a healthy relationship with God?

1. Delight yourself in the Lord (so that you will have no idols) just as the ants delight themselves with the queen. They tend to the queen because she is the life producer in the colony and is vital to its success. We must delight ourselves in the Lord as He produces life and is vital to us.

Psalms 37:4 Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Romans 5:11 (NLT) So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

How many of you have a best friend with whom you anticipate spending time with? It is not a burden to do so, but a delight. We can rejoice about our wonderful relationship with God as it is not a burden to spend time with Him but rather, He is our delight. Just like before the fall.

We have so many things competing for our time and attention. But God is jealous for us, we must not allow anything or anyone to come before Him.

Exodus 34:14 (NLT) You must worship no other gods, for the Lord, whose very name is Jealous, is a God who is jealous about his relationship with you.

· How much time do you commit each day to praying to God and/or reading His word?

· How much time do you spend on social media each day?

· Are you sluggish in this area of your life?

2. Contribute to The Relationship

We have learned in the ant colony that every ant has a part to play. So, it is in your relationship with God. Though we cannot make God love us any more than he does already, we still must contribute to the relationship.

We know by experience that what we do does make a difference in our relationship with God. If I spend devotional time with him in the morning, then I typically find I’m less likely to give into temptation and more aware of His presence throughout the day.

If you find that it seems harder to pray, or that church involvement is more of a burden, if your joy in Christ has faded then take this following scripture and apply it to your life.

Revelation 2:4-5

4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.

╂ What did you do when you were first saved?

╂ How is that different than what you do now? Are you sluggish in doing those things?

╂ How are you contributing to your relationship with God?

3. Keep His Commandments

2 John 1:6,9 (NLT)

6 Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning.

9 Anyone who wanders away from this teaching has no relationship with God. But anyone who remains in the teaching of Christ has a relationship with both the Father and the Son.

Love is an essential part of a relationship. The way that we prove our love is by keeping the commandments. This is where Adam & Eve went wrong this is what caused the hindrance in their relationship with God. They broke the commandments of God and experienced shame.

John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

Deuteronomy 7:9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,

╂ Have you been a sluggard when it comes to keeping the commandments of God?

John Owen- Our communion with God consists in his communication of himself to us, with our return to him of that which he requires and accepts, flowing from that union which in Jesus Christ we have with him.