Measuring Twice
Updated: Sep 3
“For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?”Luke 14:28
You measure. Then you measure again. The second time is slower, more careful.
The board is expensive. The cut will be permanent.
Jesus spoke of counting the cost before building a tower. He praised the wisdom that looks hard at a thing before the action that cannot be undone. He was not praising delay for its own sake. He was praising attention.
Measuring twice is not fear. It is respect for the material, and for the time that will be spent. It is the extra moment that keeps a good piece of wood from being wasted.
You do not have to rush the decision. You do not have to apologise for the extra moment of attention.
The liturgy works like this too. We do not walk straight from the street to the altar without a pause. There is a greeting. A confession. A listening to the Word. Then the gifts are prepared. Christ himself looked at the cost of his work and still went forward. The pause did not cancel the cut. It made the offering clear.
When the cut finally comes, it is cleaner because of the pause.