For years they built houses,
Working hard for their hire.
Now, at last, came the time
For each man to retire.

Their boss asked them both in,
He said, “I have one plea,
I want you each to build
One more house just for me.”

The first man took great pains
To give the project thought.
He’d make his one last house
The best that could be bought.

The other thought, instead,
Of building with great speed.
To get done and away
Was his most pressing need.

The first man built with care
From morning ‘til late night,
Making sure each detail
Was finished out just right.

The other’s only thought,
To hurry and get through,
Using every shortcut,
With fancy features few.

When the two presented
The houses to their boss,
He returned the house keys
To each man with a toss.

“Keep the house you’ve each built,
I give it to you free.
A reward for the years
That you’ve each worked for me.”

The Bible speaks of building houses. Everyone has read the comparison that the Bible makes of a house built on a rock foundation to that of one built on sand. When excavating for a foundation, builders know that it is easier to level a sand location than one that is covered with boulders, but many more precautions have to be taken to insure a firm foundation when building on sand. Our ranch is appropriately named Sandy Ranch; the only rocks on the place are large chunks of petrified wood. I had no choice but to build on sand but I dug down twenty feet until I had a good clay base. That is why half of my house is underground. I have to mow my roof. How different do you think the two houses, in this poem, would have been had the two men known they were building for themselves. I like to think that the honest man would have hesitated to take advantage of his boss and built less flamboyantly, while the lazy man would have taken every possible advantage of his situation. Actually, God wants us to take full advantage of his plan of salvation. He doesn’t want us to scrimp when accepting the many gifts that He has provided for us.