Old Testament
Proverbs 24:3-4
3 Through wisdom a house is built; by understanding it is established;
4 by knowledge the rooms are filled with all rare and beautiful treasure.
Common Good
Balancing Security and Sustainability
Scripture References
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Luke 14:28-30
28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and count the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it?
29 Or perhaps, when he has laid a foundation and isn’t able to finish, everyone who sees begins to mock him,
30 saying, ‘This man began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’
Thought for the Day
Proverbs speaks of building: by wisdom a house is built, by understanding it is established, and by knowledge its rooms are filled with “precious and pleasant riches”. The Bible is not shy about planning. It is wary of vanity, but it honours foresight.
Jesus makes the point with a small parable: if you want to build a tower, you sit down first and count the cost. Otherwise you lay a foundation and cannot finish, and you become a cautionary tale. He is not commending anxiety. He is commending seriousness.
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Energy policy belongs to this kind of wisdom. Security matters: people need warmth, light, transport, and the steady functioning of public life. Sustainability matters too: we cannot mortgage the future to ease the present. Wisdom asks what we can sustain. But the Christian can hold both without panic, because our hope is not in a perfect system, but in the Lord who calls us to faithful stewardship.
Lord, grant wisdom for long decisions and patient transitions. Teach us to count the true cost, including the cost borne by the poor and by future generations. Keep us from the pride that promises what cannot be delivered, and from the fear that refuses to try.
Prayer Points
Respond- Give wisdom to those who plan and build, that decisions are steady, truthful, and humane.
- Protect the poor from bearing the hidden costs of transitions they did not choose.
- Deliver leaders from short-term vanity; grant courage for long obedience and honest trade-offs.
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- Teach the Church to pray without panic, to speak without cynicism, and to hope without naivety.
- Give us patience to do the next faithful thing, even when the path is complex.