A modern fictional story inspired by "the wise and foolish builders" in Matthew 7.
Jordan and Casey had been friends long enough to agree on almost everything. They liked many of the same movies, mostly agreed that fresh food topped the list, and occasionally turned choosing a restaurant into a debate. All in all, their lifelong friendship was strong.
One evening, while sipping Mai Tais and enjoying halibut steaks, Casey brought up a longtime dream they had both talked about—building their own homes. He mentioned that two parcels of land were available nearby.
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Then the storm blew in. Image from Pixabay
Jordan, the more serious of the two, asked, "How much?"
Casey, with his usual nonchalant shrug, said, "Don't know. I just saw the For Sale sign and thought they might work."
That was enough to start the conversation.
Before long, they were talking about the homes they wanted and comparing everything on their wish lists, especially the perfect smart home: voice assistants in every room, solar panels, app-controlled lighting, and of course, gig-speed Wi-Fi.
The next morning, Jordan found himself thinking about their conversation. Curiosity got the better of him, so he called Casey and asked him to take him out to see the two parcels.
The drive took them a little outside of town. When they arrived, Casey climbed out and looked across the trees and grass covering two nearly flat parcels.
"See?" Casey said. "They're perfect for us."
Jordan, being Jordan, looked around a little longer.
"We'll see."
Casey held his hands out like a frame and began imagining where his house would sit. Jordan was already thinking about the price of the land, the cost of drilling a well, installing a septic system, and everything else that would come before the first wall ever went up.
Casey turned toward him, his excitement impossible to hide.
"Let's do this. They're perfect."
Jordan put on his serious face. "Hold on there, tiger. We need to know what the lots cost before we decide anything. I have a friend who's a real estate agent. Let's talk to her first."
The call was made. She could meet them at her office in an hour.
With some time to kill, they stopped at a café nearby and enjoyed a late breakfast.
An hour later, everyone met at her office. She printed the listing sheet, handed it to them, and began explaining the properties.
Casey was practically biting his tongue to keep from shouting, We'll take them.
Jordan studied the listing sheet, quietly doing the numbers in his head. The land was within reach. So were the additional costs he had already begun calculating.
He finally interrupted his friend.
"We'll take both parcels."
In a rare moment of unbelievable happiness, Casey was speechless.
It took a couple of weeks to finish the sale. They did not wait that long to start designing their homes.
Jordan took his time. He researched the land, brought in soil engineers, and even sat down with the oldest contractor in town—a man who measured experience in decades and coffee cups—to talk about foundations, drainage, and the kinds of designs that could handle Florida summers and stand up to hurricanes. Once he had that information in place, he went to his architect with a clear vision: a solid home built for Florida, with one personal stipulation—an outdoor rooftop patio for quiet, relaxing evenings.
Casey? Casey imagined something closer to an entertainment center disguised as a home. He wanted floor-to-ceiling glass walls, a rooftop infinity pool, and an open floor plan that would look amazing on Instagram. He did not spend much time worrying about foundations or drainage. That was what the contractor was for. His plans also included a wood-fired pizza oven and a koi pond in the living room.
Spring in Florida was nearly perfect for building. The contractors got to work, and over the next few months, the two houses slowly took shape. By summer, both were finished.
They looked incredible.
Jordan's was simple but solid. Casey's was a showstopper—people pulled over on the county road just to stare. The drone footage went viral for three days.
Then came the storm.
It began with the kind of heavy rain that makes you check the forecast twice. By afternoon, the wind picked up, howling past 70 mph. By evening, it was full hurricane-force: pounding rain sideways, lightning cracking so close it rattled windows, and thunder that rolled like a freight train.
By morning, the neighborhood looked like a scene from a disaster movie. A brick wall down the street was flattened, massive Ficus trees lay sprawled like fallen giants, and fences simply… disappeared.
Jordan's place took a beating — a few missing shingles, one broken window, and the rooftop patio furniture was in the next county. The Wi-Fi was out for half a day. But the foundation didn't move, the walls held, and the roof stayed put.
Casey's? The infinity pool overflowed into the living room. The koi escaped into the neighbor's flooded yard (last seen swimming toward a culvert). One glass wall bowed in and shattered, sending designer furniture into the mud. The pizza oven survived, but the house was condemned after the foundation cracked so badly that the floor sloped toward the kitchen.
A week later, when the roads were clear, Jordan stopped by Casey's rental cabin. They stood together, sipping burnt coffee from Styrofoam cups and staring at drone footage of the wreckage.
Casey shook his head. "Guess the koi didn't make it."
Jordan chuckled. "But what a ride they had."
Casey looked down for a moment.
"Jordan, when I rebuild, will you help me get it right?"
"Of course I will, Casey. That's what friends do."
"Thanks."
Casey paused, then looked back at him.
"But can I at least keep the rooftop pool?"
Jordan laughed and nodded.
With that, Jordan headed home. Before long, he was back on his rooftop patio, sitting at the table with his laptop and enjoying the Wi-Fi on the roof.
A fair distance from the shattered glass house, one large piece of plate glass still stood impaled in the lawn. Painted on it was a stairwell and an arrow pointing up. Below it were the words, "To the Infinity Pool."
The arrow now pointed toward a muddy hole filled with rainwater.
Technically, it was still an infinity pool if you squinted hard enough.
Inspired by Matthew 7:24-27
Synopsis:
What we build on can matter more than what we build. Jordan and Casey both dream of remarkable homes, but their attention goes in very different directions before the first wall ever rises. Jesus' account of the wise and foolish builders carries that same tension—between what looks finished above ground and what has quietly been established underneath.
Tap to read the actual bible passage:
parable of the the wise and foolish builders
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