A house is built by wisdom, and it is established by understanding; by knowledge the rooms are filled with every precious and beautiful treasure. Proverbs 24:3–4
Once upon a time, there was a rich and prominent man who wanted to build a house for his own family. After an architect had drawn his house plan, the man searched everywhere until he found just the right builder.
“I’m going to give you my checkbook,” said the man to the builder he finally chose.
“I’m going on a long journey, so build me this house as I know you can. I trust you.” The builder got an idea. Even though the plans call for the highest quality materials, he thought, I can use cheap products for the places the owner cannot see. Think of the extra money I can make!
The builder took his idea to his Saturday morning breakfast friends. They thought his idea was a good one. They laughed at the thought of the rich man never knowing what was going to be used inside his walls.
A year later the man returned. The house was finished. The crooked builder gave the man his grand tour of the place. The rich man was impressed. And he was grateful. “You have built me a beautiful house,” he finally said. “I am so glad I chose you as my builder.”
And then the owner did something the builder never dreamed he would do. The rich man took the front-door keys the builder had just given to him and handed them back to the builder.
“Life has been good to me,” said the man. “I have made more money than I ever thought I would have. I have more things than I could ever use, more cash than I could ever spend. Because you have been so faithful in building this house for me with such quality, I would like to give it back to you.”
The builder tried to be happy. He wanted the man to think he was thankful. But he knew that now he had to live in a house that was not fit to live in. A house built with second-rate materials. A house built by a fool.
“A house is built by wisdom . . . the rooms are filled with every precious and beautiful treasure. A wise warrior is better than a strong one. . . . You should wage war with sound guidance—victory comes with many counselors” (vv. 3–6).
How could he have known that the house he was building was for himself? How could his friends have known? Sleep well, Mr. Builder. Sleep well, foolish man.