Tending to the Field First

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

Most of us don't think much about the importance of the field.  We go to the store and buy what we need.  Unless you live on a farm or have a garden, you are getting what you need from a store, not from a field.

Things were a bit different in Solomon's day when these proverbs were written.  In those days, most people farmed for their own food.  A productive, well-maintained field was important to them.  For them, a house was a necessity, not a luxury.  It's value was outweighed by the value of a fruit-bearing field.

This verse is teaching us a lesson in priorities.  Do we have our priorities straight?  Let's think about the field in terms of our spiritual lives and the house in terms of physical needs and wants.  Which one is more important to me?  Which one is more important to you?

Are we cultivating the spiritual "fields" of our lives?  Are we spending time in God's Word daily, beyond a quick surface reading?  Are we putting into practice the commands and principles found in the Bible?  Are we spending time talking to God and praising Him for who He is and what He has done?

My "field" tends to get weeds.  If I'm not fellowshipping with God, the weeds of sin tend to overgrow the productive ground of my field.  When this happens, ground that could have been used for growing fruit becomes ground that produces useless and harmful weeds.

Peter said, "Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby:"  (I Peter 2:1, 2)  The study and application of the Scriptures is what cultivates the field.

Is the house important?  Yes!  We all have physical needs.  We all need shelter, food, clothing, etc.  God knows this, but our tendency is to "spruce up" the house while the field gathers weeds and briers.  Don't forget, we need the fruits of the field in order to live.

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."  Matthew 6:33