Put your outdoor work in order and get your fields ready; after that, build your house.
Proverbs 24:27
While recently chatting to a fellow-believer and close friend, he shared his secret dream of owning a holiday home down on the coast. And why wouldn’t he nurture such a dream? A part of me yearns for that as well. The thought of owning a lovely little beach hideaway that I could escape to for the odd weekend getaway sounds quite appealing.
My friend and I are not alone. Many a middle-class family dreams of their holiday getaway home. Some dream of a beach house. Others dream of a mountain chalet.
However, as I began to dream of that holiday home, my thoughts turned to scripture. Now, let me be clear; the Bible does not forbid anyone’s hankering for a holiday home. It merely offers some sound advice. Take a look at Proverbs 24:27, shown above.
Get Your Fields Ready
With that in mind, it occurs to me that a striving for a holiday home is little more than a house-building exercise. The proverb does not say there is anything wrong with this; it merely advises me to put my outdoor work in order and get my fields ready first — then build my house.
In other words, having scrimped and saved from my hard-earned wages, the proverb urges me to first invest in next year’s harvest. It tells me to get my outdoor work in order and get my fields ready. How do I do this? By purchasing seed and preparing my assets in order to reap a harvest when the time comes.
Once I have done that, I can begin building my house. Unfortunately, for most middle-class folk, like me, preparing those fields will soak up most of those savings, leaving very little to invest in that dream holiday home.
Truly wealthy individuals apply the wisdom in this proverb regardless of whether they are believers or not. It’s a sad fact that the middle-class syndrome generally does the opposite. It builds the house first— and pays the price in the long run.
As such, I have decided to take the lesson in this proverb to heart. While I love the idea of owning a holiday home by the sea, I choose wisdom and have invested my savings in next year’s harvest. In years to come, I may find myself in a position to “build my house” so to speak. Or maybe God will lead me to give the proceeds to his kingdom instead. After all, it’s his money; I am merely a steward.
So, for now, I will go about the business of putting my outdoor work in order and getting my fields ready. Just like the proverb says.