“Prepare your work outside; get everything ready for yourself in the field, and after that build your house.” –Proverbs 24:27
This ancient proverb reminds us that the order in which we do things is important.
In this case, it’s wise for the farmer or herdsman to make sure everything is ready in the fields, before turning his attention to building his house. Obviously, having a permanent shelter would be nice, but it’s even more important that the crops get planted and the herds are taken care of first. It’s these things that will actually provide food to eat and a source of income—things a house by itself could not provide.
The same thing is true today. For a business, it’s more important to focus first on building its revenue streams than it is to build a nicer facility. Not that the second shouldn’t be done, but it should probably come after steps have been taken to generate sufficient revenue to pay for future expansion.
As individuals, the same principle is relevant. Are we investing our time, energy, and money into things that will actually generate future value? Or do we spend our resources on things that don’t necessarily produce anything in the long term? Not that the latter don’t have their place—they do—it’s just that they should come after the more important things have first been taken care of.