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• Fortieth anniversary gatherings can be awkward.
• Robinson's task is to say something about the living of these days.
• Agur, who has the wisdom to do that, choose four animals as models for us.

• The ant knows that winter lies ahead.
• Agur teachers that the Word of God can guide us for the days ahead.
• Winter is coming for all of us, and is here in the culture in which we minister.
• Now is the time to prepare, to dig deeply into the Word of God.
• Illustration: While we picnic, ants are at work, stealing our food to prepare for winter.
• We need to do the hard work of biblical study to prepare for winter.

• The coney is dead meat out in the open, so it hides in rocks.
• Our security lies in God.
• There's a difference between theological knowing about God and personally knowing God.
• Illustration: Theology is like a road sign that points to a city.
• Illustration: Coney's arguing about the size of the rock that is their security.
• Coneys know both their weakness and their strength—the rock.

• A single locust is not much of a danger.
• Illustration: At the turn of the century, a swarm of locusts destroyed large areas of the Midwest.
• We must have a personal faith, but not an individual one.
• Illustration: Only three guards needed at an asylum for the insane because "Lunatics never unite."
• Illustration: The apostle Paul was dependent on his friends.
• No ministry can be done alone.

• A lizard in a king's palace is incongruous—it's about grace.
• Illustration: Trying to loosen a reverse screw.
• All the Bible is like a reverse screw, not what we expect. It's incongruous.
• But if you don't understand the nature of the reverse screw, you never can do anything.
• Illustration: C.S. Lewis' comment that "There are no ordinary Christians."
• We must not despise any fellow believers, for incongruously, they bear the weight of glory.