Considering the foundation means pausing and asking yourself the difficult question of “why.” Sure, being intentional in the beginning isn’t nearly as glamorous as slapping on a coat of paint at the end, but it’s infinitely more valuable. After all, that paint’s not going to look very good on a house that’s crumbled to the ground.

The foundation is a key part of any building. I’m no master builder, but I’ve done enough home projects to see the logic of the phrase, “measure twice, cut once.” It’s a phrase that reminds us that the most important part of the work is usually done before the actual execution of the work. The plans have to be laid out, the base steps have to be considered carefully; you have to have a good and sure beginning because if you don’t, the entire rest of the project, whether big or small, is going to be affected. Get the foundation wrong, and it doesn’t matter what paint color you slap on or what pictures you hang on the wall. Whatever you built will eventually crack and erode, falling to the ground.

This need for a sure foundation is what Jesus talked about in the parable of the wise and foolish builders:

 “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of Mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed. And its collapse was great!” (Matthew 7:24-27).

Clearly, one builder was wise and one was foolish, and the way we see that wisdom and foolishness played out in this story is through the foundation they chose. The wise man built on the rock while the foolish man built on the sand. I read this parable, and I see that it’s not about building houses; it’s about a way of life. It’s about the choices we make and how often the little choices add up to something bigger than we can see in the moment. That dynamic is why this parable is about another characteristic that dominates the wise man, and that the fool simply looks beyond.

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