Piggy Bank
But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Romans 2:5
Storing Up – God is an accountant. Did you forget that? Did you think that because Jesus died on the cross, God threw away the ledger? Don’t make such a fatal mistake. You were saved for obedience. Jesus’ death dealt with the guilt of your sin in order that you might live a righteous life. But, if you choose stubbornness and harbor an unrepentant spirit, the warning is clear. Judgment is coming.
Life is a piggy bank. Everyday you make a small deposit. You can make deposits of joyful cooperation with God’s purposes (that’s called obedience) or you can make deposits that serve your purposes (that’s called sin). Every penny in the bank gets stored up for its final tally. Paul uses the word thesaurizeis. It’s about the treasury – your inner bank vault that stores up every deposit. Every harsh word, every act of rebellion, every selfish appropriation goes into the account. You might not experience the results today. That’s one of the surprising things about God’s mercy. He does not judge immediately. He allows time for a change of heart. But, in the end, the books are opened. The accounts are settled. In the end, the piggy bank is broken open and all those small deposits are totaled.
If you thought that how you live after Jesus forgave you doesn’t really matter, you are a fool. No theology of indulgence can save you from the wrath to come. Life is about reflecting the image of the Son, and whatever and wherever your life is out of conformity, you are required – obligated – to change. So, take account! Where is the stubbornness? Where is the unrepentant attitude? Where is the failure of compassion? Where is the arrogance, the selfishness, the justification? All those deposits will do eternal damage. Take them to the Accountant and ask to have them removed from the ledger. Replace them with the actions and attitudes of the Son.
There are two kinds of treasure. One is stored up for wrath, the other for praise. Today the books are still subject to correction. That means active engagement in spiritual transformation. Sitting back, hoping that God will ignore some deposits, is insanity. Get to work on your retirement account while it is still day. Deliberately manage your treasure. Make sure the deposits are ones you can live with forever.
