We have looked at many kinds of ants in past articles, discovering the interesting ways the Creator has ordered their lives. However, as we look at fire ants we will understand why many people wish they could be wiped off the earth. They only spell trouble wherever they choose to live.
This large, bright-red ant was originally a resident of South America, living in its forests and fields. However, in 1918 a few arrived in the southern United States. Unfortunately, people didn’t pay much attention to them at that time. The fire ants multiplied rapidly, and before long they spread to many places in great numbers. Today these invaders are a serious pest. Millions of them live in the area from Florida and Georgia west into Texas and are becoming more numerous every day.
If you ever get one on you, you will soon know why they are so unpopular. Their sting is painful and raises a red welt that hurts for several days. It makes some people ill and can even kill a small animal. But for farmers fire ants are even more serious. They infest their fields, building nests that soon become a mound one foot or more above the soil. The ants coat these mounds with a sticky material that dries as hard as cement. These become hidden among the crops, and farm equipment passing over the mounds gets damaged, requiring expensive repair, only to have it happen all over again if another mound is run over. Sometimes the farmer gets so discouraged that he leaves his crop unharvested, which of course means no income from it.
Not only is farm machinery damaged: The ants damage corn, beans and other crops as well as killing young orchard trees. Their ferocious appetites also harm much wildlife -birds, insects, small animals and even snakes. Of course, great and expensive efforts are made to find a means of killing them off, but the ants are so tough that this has not been successful. People now realize they just waited too long.
The carelessness of people who first experienced fire ants years ago and did nothing about them until it was too late is a lesson for us about every sin (even sins that seem very small) that we commit. If we ignore them, they get worse and worse until they have real control over our lives.
How important it is to confess our sins to the Lord Jesus just as soon as they happen. If we ask sincerely, He will guide us in a right way so they will not be repeated. His promise is, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:99If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)). Don’t put off doing this!
ML-04/18/1999