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So, we heat with wood heat.

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primarily and we have a conventional electric heater and we usually supplement with wood heat but recently our

electrical heater is not working so we've been exclusively heating with wood heat since it dropped off maybe for about a week or less.

And in the process of all that, I've been thinking.

and I wanted to share with you.

The parable.

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of the wood stove.

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The Wood Stove.

is a teacher.

There's wisdom in heating with wood.

that modern life tends to ignore. Because wood heat doesn't just warm your home. It teaches your soul.

The wood stove is simple, honest, reliable, and unforgiving of laziness. You cannot cheat. There's not a hack. You can't procrastinate. You can't lie to it.

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And life's the same way. When winter comes, you either did the work or you didn't.

The wood is seasoned, or it isn't.

You prepared or you're cold.

That's the parable of the wood stove.

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Because the wood stove never lies. A wood stove tells the truth about a person's preparation. In life, many people deceive themselves. But not the man who heats with wood.

The stove speaks plainly. You prepared in the summer, you'll be warm in the winter. You waited too long, you're gonna freeze. Galatians 6-7 says, be not deceived, God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

The wood stove is a physical example of that spiritual law. You reap what you cut, split, stack and season. Not what you intend to do. Not what you plan to do. Only what you actually did.

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Cutting wood is the season of labor.

Cutting wood is the first step. It's messy, sweaty, loud, and repetitive. Mundane and boring. And yet it's the foundation of winter warmth. There's no glamour in cutting wood, just like the early stages of building a successful life. It's work nobody sees and nobody praises.

People want results, but the wood stove teaches first comes labor.

In all labor, there's profit.

cutting wood is symbolic of building skills, disciplining your habits, studying the word, learning a trade, correcting your weakness.

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improving your character.

And just like wood.

Life must be cut down to size. You must break big goals into manageable pieces.

Next comes the splitting of the wood. This is character under pressure.

Splitting wood is about impact.

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about force.

about delivering a clean, honest blow.

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Some logs split easily. Others are knotty, twisted, and stubborn.

and life gives you all kinds.

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But splitting teaches this. Pressure reveals the grain of the wood.

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Pressure reveals the grain of a man.

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in the process of splitting wood.

You learn patience. You learn accuracy. You learn persistence. You learn how to face resistance.

Let patience have her perfect work because character is formed the same way firewood is through repeated focus blows in the right direction.

Next comes the stacking of the wood.

Where is order, discipline, and the law of stores?

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Now comes the stacking.

And stacking isn't random. It's order, it's structure, it's intention. A sloppy wood pile leads to rot, mold, varmints.

collapse and wasted effort. A good woodpile stands straight like a testimony and every neat stack says, I'm prepared for the future.

just like your finances, your health, your marriage, your spiritual life, your business, and your habits.

Prepare thy work without and make it fit for thyself in the field and afterwards build thine house. Stacking wood teaches long term thinking, planning for scarcity, protecting what you work for, building margin, building reserves, keeping things

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decent and in order.

People today lack warmth in winter because they lack order in summer.

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Next is the seasoning of the wood, which requires time, patience and preparation. Fresh wood is full of moisture. It smokes, sputters and refuses to burn. It must sit. It must dry.

It must season.

Life is the same way. You can't rush maturity. You can't rush wisdom. You can't rush holiness. To everything there is a season.

Seasoning teaches us some things need time. You can't force readiness. Spiritual growth is slow. Wisdom accumulates. Patience is more than a virtue. It's a fruit of the Spirit.

Today's discomfort is tomorrow's warmth. Some people never become strong because they never allow themselves to season. They want everything quick. The Big Mac. The fast food. The microwave.

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quick things fall apart.

quick things are unhealthy and unprofitable.

seasoned wood burns hotter.

seasoned people live wiser.

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and winter reveals it all.

When the first cold snap hits, you discover the truth. You either have dry wood or wet wood, enough wood or not enough wood. You've either prepared or you're wishing you had. Winter exposes all. He that gathers in summer is a wise son, but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame.

Winter is the exam of life. It tests your preparation, your discipline, your foresight, your consistency, and your stewardship.

Winter never shows mercy to the unprepared. And life doesn't either.

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The fire is the fruit of preparation. A warm wood stove on a cold night is one of life's greatest comforts, especially when the power's out.

But that worth isn't magic. It's the reward of months of effort. The fire represents success, joy, peace, security, financial stability, spiritual maturity, and family harmony. Nothing's better than sitting with your little ones around

fire.

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What you feel in winter is the fruit of what you did in the summer.

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His leaf also shall not wither and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The fire is prosperity, but prosperity comes from preparation.

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In all of this, there is the daily upkeep.

which I call the law of maintenance.

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Even once the wood is cut, split, stacked, seasoned, and the fire is burning, your job isn't over. Every day you must feed the fire, adjust the damper, empty the ashes, bring in more wood, maintain the stove, and clean the chimney. By all means, clean the chimney.

Why?

Because good things fall apart without maintenance. Life is exactly the same way. Marriages die without maintenance. Faith grows cold without prayer. Children drift without attention. Finances crumble without budgeting. Health declines without discipline.

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We ought to give them more earnest heed, lest at any time we should let them slip.

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You must tend the fire daily if you want to stay warm.

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because there's lessons.

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in the ashes.

Ashes remind us of two truths. One, the fire consumed what we gave it. Two, yesterday's fire cannot warm today.

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Some people live on yesterday's yesterday's prayers, yesterday's discipline.

But the ashes whisper, you need fresh wood today.

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His mercies are new every morning. Daily wood, daily prayer, daily obedience, daily discipline.

Yesterday is gone. Today needs fuel.

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because legacy.

is the wood pile your children inherit.

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when your children grow up.

they will heat their homes.

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hopefully a literal home and a spiritual one.

They'll heat it with the habits that you left for them.

Are you stacking a wood pile they can build from? Are you modeling work ethic, preparation, discipline, gratitude, stewardship, faith, scripture, prayer, resilience?

A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children. Your greatest inheritance is not money. It's a well-prepared life. A life your children can imitate. A wood pile they will thank you for.

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competing with wood teaches you all the lessons of life. Cutting is labor. Splitting is discipline. Stacking is order. Seasoning is preparation. Winter is testing. Fire is reward. Ashes are reminders.

Daily tending is consistency.

Heat is legacy. The wood stove teaches us your results tomorrow come from your preparation today.

The Bible reminds us, to the ant thou sluggard. She gathers her food in the harvest. Life rewards the prepared and punishes the lazy.

The wood stove is more than a heater. It's a parable of wisdom, a reminder that success is not an accident.

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but a harvest of disciplined seasons.

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I want to mention the law of the axe. Sharpness determines success.

I think Abe Lincoln once said, if I had six hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend the first four sharpening the axe.

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That's true of and even truer of life.

A dull axe takes more energy, causes more frustration, produces less progress, increases the chance of injury.

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Ecclesiastes 10.10 says, if the iron be blunt, then must he put to more strength. But wisdom is profitable to direct. A man with a dull mind, a dull spirit, a dull habit life must use more strength because he lacks wisdom.

Sharpening your acts in life means reading, studying scripture, studying skills, listening to mentors, tending to your health, improving your systems, removing distractions, strengthening your walk with Christ.

You don't rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your preparation.

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There's also the principle of the chainsaw.

Power without control is dangerous.

When you first pick up a chainsaw, you learn quickly. If you're careless, it will punish you.

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It will hurt you really bad.

Power without discipline is not strength, it's destruction.

Many people in life get a bit of success, a little bit of money, a little bit of influence, and they completely lose control. The chainsaw teaches more horsepower requires more humility.

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Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God.

and he will lift you up.

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You can have a powerful tool, but if you lack humility and control, you'll destroy your future faster than you can build it.

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Self-control is not weakness, it is power under guidance. Just like the chainsaw.

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handle with respect or it'll cut more than wood.

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Then there's the forest.

and the future.

You don't cut the tree, you need tomorrow.

One thing a seasoned woodsman know, you don't harvest all your trees all at once. If you cut everything you have, you won't have anything for next winter. This is the law of sustainability.

in the forest and in life.

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People cut down their future when they say, burn through all the money.

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cut.

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Replace.

People cut down their future when they burn through all their money, exhaust themselves, invest nothing in their children, spend more than they earn, avoid rest, push but never recover, or live beyond their means.

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There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish man spendeth it up.

A foolish man burns tomorrow's wood today. A wise man knows when to cut and when to let things grow.

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Your wood lot is a testimony. Your property tells the story.

walk onto any rural property and look at the woodlot.

It tells you everything about the man who lives there. A tidy stack says, this man is diligent.

A half-rotten pile says, this man procrastinates.

A winter ready supply says, this man plans ahead.

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A desperate scramble in December says this man ignored the summer.

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Your woodlot is your character lead right out in the yard.

just like your finances, your home, your habits, your schedule, your friendships, your marriage, and your walk with God.

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our wood piles reveal who we are.

Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Your life, your choices, your discipline, your preparation are the wood piles by which your children and your community will remember you.

Live in such a way that your woodlot, literal or metaphorical, stands straight, solid, seasoned and prepared.

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Here's the deepest part of the parable. Wood is your effort.

The stove is your structure.

But God supplies the fire. You can stack wood to the rafters, but unless God breathes on it, it remains cold. Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Just as fire transforms wood into heat, God transforms discipline into blessing, obedience into joy, preparation into prosperity.

and sacrifice into strength.

firebox of the soul is the heart.

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and the Holy Spirit is the flame.

Without him?

Life is ash.

With Him, life is warmth.

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There's also the backup wood pile.

which teach us margin and mercy.

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Old woodmans always say, keep a backup pile just in case. Because life throws curve balls, sickness, breakdowns, storms, emergencies, setbacks, and sudden needs.

Margin in your shed is mercy in the winter. Likewise, God gives His people grace. My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. A wise man doesn't live on the edge, flying by the seat of his pants. He builds buffers.

in his time, in his money, in his emotions, in his relationships, and in his spiritual walk.

A backup wood pile is humility in practice.

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It says, don't know what tomorrow brings, so I'll prepare today.

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Every fire burns low eventually. Not because you failed, but because life cycles. Sometimes your motivation drops. Your faith feels thin. Your strength runs low. Your joy weakens. It's not a sign of failure.

It's a sign you need more fuel.

they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. The wise woodman doesn't panic when the fire dims. He simply adds more wood.

Likewise in life.

Read the Word. Worship, pray, rest, reset, refocus, and add fuel to your spirit.

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and then the fire returns.

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a wood stirr- a check replace.

A wood stove that burns too hot can crack, warp, or even burn down the house.

Too much heat is as dangerous as not enough.

In life, overdrive destroys marriages, health, peace, patience, finances, and service.

Paul says, I keep under my body and bring it into subjection. A man must learn to throttle back, to rest, to pace himself, to let the coals provide steady heat instead of erupting flames. Sustained success is slow heat, not a wildfire.

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In the parable of the wood stove, God gives us a picture of life. You cut what you want to burn. You split what you want to grow from. You stack what you want to preserve. You season what you want to mature. You maintain what you want to keep.

You heat what you want to bless. The wood stove teaches every part of wisdom, practical and spiritual. The Lord gives us trees, but we must make them into fuel. God gives us life.

but we must make it into something useful. The parable is simple.

Prepare now so that you prosper later. Work now so you may rest later.

Build now so you may warm others later.

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A good woodpile is a testimony. A warm home is a blessing. A disciplined life is a legacy.

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and a heart touched by God becomes a light.

in a cold world.

I hope this helps someone. If you appreciate what we're doing, please go on over to thetexasboys.com. You can support us over there. Share this with somebody that needs it. Maybe leave some comments down below. Or if you want to dialogue on the Fountain app, that's a great source for your podcast. Check that out. Link is in description. See y'all in the next one.