“Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house.” Proverbs 24:27

Building lives.  Building empires and organizations.  Building legacies and building personal ministries have all seem to take precedence over the greater work; the outside work.  So much is the focus on building for self, that building for Him has begun to fade in the background.

The prophets and disciples/apostles of old were outside builders.  Their homes were not their focus and their personal lives and desires were not what they strained for day in and day out.  To reach peoples, to add multitudes to God’s kingdom, to share God’s message to the world was the greater outside work they allowed themselves to be spent for.

Even Jesus, at the young age of 12 declared to His earthly parents, “How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49).  He was found where the work of the heavenly Father was going on, and not where the earthly work was.

How much of our focus on the earthly has taken over the heavenly?  Proverbs 24:27 says, “Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house.”

We must put our work in proper order and the greater must demand more of our care.  The farmer prepares the ground rightly and plans accordingly the fields before he focuses on his house.  And, while he is building his own house he will gain the benefits of the harvest the fields are producing.   Likewise, how much more will we be built on a firm foundation if we prioritize God’s work over our own “building projects;” making productive the things for the kingdom of God and working His fields?

Jesus taught, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you,” (Matthew 6:33).  Be about the Father’s business and your house will be built.