Storing Up for Winter

But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.

Romans 2:5

But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

Matthew 6:20

I live in a parsonage that's owned by the church that I work for. One of the previous pastors planted a nice Rose of Sharon tree next to the house with a Hosta on either side. Underneath one of these Hostas lives a little brown chipmunk. My wife and children are quite taken with him. So much so that they have taken to feeding him by placing piles of birdseed next to the Hosta that conceals the entrance to his burrow. Over the course of several days the little seed pile will dwindle and when it is all gone, they will feed him again. Undoubtedly as autumn arrives their little friend will start going through their seed piles much faster as he begins storing up food for the winter.

I started thinking about our little chipmunk tonight, because I realized in my Bible reading time this morning that every one of us is like him in this way. We are all storing something up for the future. I don't mean in an earthly sense, though we very well may be doing that also, but in a heavenly sense. Scripture reveals to us that every human being is storing something up for eternity. Either we are storing up treasures for ourselves in Heaven (Matthew 6:20) or we are storing up wrath for ourselves in Hell (Romans 2:5). The day of judgment will reveal what you have accumulated. 

Stubbornness and unrepentance, along with every kind of evil act that men engage in, store up wrath. Faith in Jesus and submission to His leadership in your life, along with every good and righteous act that Christians engage in, store up treasure. Be careful that you don't lose yourself in all the activity of life and begin to think that one kind of store is as good as the other. It is easy to argue now that your lifestyle is as good as any other, but the day of judgment will reveal it for what it was. 

So, evaluate your life. Evaluate your stores. How prepared are you for the coming Winter of God's Judgment?