Message summary: Today let us consider the value of storing up the wise commands of a loving God. "Store them up" in your soul's Scriptural pantry so that your spirit overflows with fruitful produce year round!

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"The wise store up choice food and olive oil" (Proverbs 21:20). “My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you” (Proverbs 7:1). "Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee" (Psalm 119:11).

A pantry is "a room or closet used for storage from which food is brought to the table" (Merriam-Webster). It can also be a colorful and palatable sight. Today's photo is a custom pantry our wood-working friend Jim made for his wife Joan, so we'll give him credit for his labor with the beautiful woodwork and Joan for the labor in growing, harvesting and canning the fruits and vegetables.

The pantry is evidence of the cooperative relationship of God's abundant provision and the human's hard work and diligence preserved in jars or by other storage methods such as freezing, drying, storing in a cool cellar, etc. What a great treat for the family, especially in the dead of winter when reminders of the fresh hearty summer produce is served at the dinner table! For many years Brooksyne has both canned and prepared food for freezing, probably best known for her jams, especially that which contains rhubarb.

My grandparents, George Washington and Nellie Mae Steincross, lived in a small, white frame house in southwest Missouri in a tiny town called Harwood (here on Google map). (Now practically abandoned but it still has a post office) The pantry in their home was a large walk-in storage room for home canned goods and baking supplies right beside the kitchen. We grandkids loved to play in there.

I recall getting in trouble a few times for breaking a jar or getting into something I shouldn't have. I would be scolded and told, "Stephen, get out of the pantry!" MaMa made the very best apple pie and the pantry  stored  the ingredients she needed, although in my recollection it was never completely full or arranged fancily. I suppose my MaMa's pantry was intended for practical storage after a harvest to be used through the winter till the next harvest season.

I don't have a photo of that pantry, though I wish I did, or other wonderful childhood memories such as the old water pump at the side of the house. In the sixties it didn't occur to us that something we took for granted would be of interest 50 years later! Before digital photography was introduced film wasn't "wasted" on something like that! But nevertheless many images are firmly planted in my memory!

Utilization of a pantry is an expression of being wise in Proverbs 21:20, "The wise store up choice food and olive oil". Due to the configuration of our present home we don't have a single pantry. Since Brooksyne likes to can fruits and vegetables we have several pantries in our home, although none are next to the kitchen. Our largest pantry is where I placed shelves between the studs of an unfinished utility closet.
 
Today we want to consider a spiritual application from the storage pantry of God's Holy Word. Our second daily verse comes from Proverbs 7 which, in its entirety, warns against the adulteress. Perhaps it was initially intended as a charge from Solomon to his son or to those under his authority. As a part of the Holy Scriptures I believe we need to foundationally take it in the way it was intended and, although 3,000 years have passed, it's still altogether appropriate and needed in this sense!

However we can also apply it in a more general way as from our heavenly Father to all His children. We can apply it to not only physical adultery but spiritual as well. We must heed His words and store up His commands within us.
 
"Keep my words." The word for "keep" in the Hebrew literally means, "to hedge about", and implies guarding and protecting. We need to keep God's Word deep and firmly grounded in our hearts.

Jesus said, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word" (John 14:23). We are barraged with many words and voices, but we need to recognize and honor the words of our heavenly Father above any other beckoning voice. The enemy of our soul is so cunning in his deception that we must be ever wary of dangers that lurk through internet porn, racy literature, malicious gossip and many other devilish strategies that seek to steal, kill, and destroy the soul. It seems that Satan hunches over his drawing table 24/7 devising schemes and fine-tuning his trickery to trip up believers and to keep unbelievers under his control.
 
"Store up my commands within you." This part of the verse really intrigues me. Over the years I've done a lot of storing up of God's Word through Scripture memorization. However it occurs to me that I lean toward the promises of God that bring me assurance more often than the commands of God that bring conviction and guard my soul against sinning.

But storing up God's commands can provide a tremendous support toward self-restraint and redirect one's thoughts toward holiness when the time of temptation comes. This is expressed in our third text, "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee" (Psalm 119:11).

Today consider the wise commands of a loving God. "Store them up" in your soul's Scriptural pantry so that your spirit overflows with fruitful produce year round and lifelong!

Be encouraged today, Hebrews 3:13.

Stephen & Brooksyne Weber