Are you using costly stone? Or cheaper stuff!

I was recently reading through the first Book of Kings in the Bible and came across this line in Chapter 5 verse 17: “At the Kings command, they quarried out great costly stones in order to lay the foundation of the house with dressed stones.” (NRSV.)

Now I know that King Solomon was rich therefore could afford to do it, by why do you think he used Costly stones for the foundations? After all, once put down, no one would see them again and thus cheaper ones would have been as equally effective?

It was not the same as with the foundation, or stumps of this house, where cheapness did make a difference. Recently my son planned to do some renovations to this house. In his preparatory work he got down and dirty and under the house, and believe me to get under the house, you have to get down and dirty.

Anyway he went under the house to check the foundations or whatever, and found that not only were the stumps not solid but also badly in need of replacement. So money previously allotted to other work had to be extended to replacing the stumps. This resulted in another dilemma. Replace them with what? With wood again? Or to go for the more expensive Concrete? Added to this was the practical consideration that he only plans to hang on to this place for another couple of years at max and sell and move on, so why spend extra money on something that he will not really get the benefit for?

Like Solomon, he too went for the more expensive option, thus preventing the next owner having to face the same problems that he had to.

Some times we think and act with the thought, “That out of sight is out of mind”, and therefore it doesn’t matter.

Now sometimes that is true like with Solomon’s costly stones. As long as the stones were solid it didn’t really matter how they looked, but Solomon wanted to give his God the very best he could. Therefore he did, even where it didn’t really make any difference and no one else would ever see.

On the other hand it made a big difference when my son had to decide between the cheaper option, either eventually perpetuating the present problem onto someone else in the future, or going for the extra cost at the beginning, to no obvious benefit to him, but with some extra costs also for him.

What about you today? Are you like Solomon giving the best you can for God and for family, even where it will never be seen?

Are you like my son and choosing the more permanent option when you have the choice, even though it will cost you more than you planned?

Are you tempted to go for the cheaper option and let the next person suffer with the same problem, or fix it once and for all?

Do you think you can get away with shoddy work and that no one will notice and even if they do, it will soon pass from memory?

If you are thinking along those lines just remember the Leaning Tower of Pizza. World famous only because its builders scrimped on its foundations. Think too of the vast amounts of money spent on it over the years to stop it falling completely over. Do you really want people to spend their money and efforts to correct your failings?

Or would you rather see extra money spent on more deserving causes?

So, what are you building with? Costly stones? Or with the cheapest alternative?

Something brings eternal benefit to others, even if your contribution is soon forgotten?