Week 21 — SUNDAY

We have noted the phrase, “in every way you were enriched in him.” We must pause to emphasize “in every way.” We know that our souls are “enriched in him.” As we expose our souls to Him, miracles of changed souls take place. It works to the degree that that exposure to Him takes place. But will it work “in every way”? Does this enrichment turn out to be a total enrichment, enriching body and mind, social and economic relationships? The answer is yes. It is Life-touching, enriching the whole of life.

Take the mind. Forgive the personal illustration: I was toward the bottom of my class until I was converted. After conversion I said to myself, “This is no place for a Christian,” and I moved toward the top. There was a woman whose marriage was on the rocks, and she herself was empty and frustrated. She was converted and with conversion mentally awakened. At forty-five she decided she wanted an education, but would have to keep a full-time job to support herself. She entered the University and came out four years later with her degree cum laude. She was given a scholarship for an M.A. in Psychology and got all A’s. She has organized a continuous prayer vigil going on through the 24 hours, throughout the 365 days a year in shifts of half an hour each. I have found people in Japan, India, and Africa who take half hours of the vigil, difficult in America. The continuous prayer goes on night and day. This came from a once-empty and frustrated life. “In every way you were enriched in him”—mentally, spiritually, in life output. An African woman converted in a hospital, walked home seventy-five miles by stages, and through her radiant witness for Christ established five congregations on the way, the mission sending teachers and preachers to take over behind her. She left a trail of light and joy behind her—“enriched in him.”

O Father, how can we thank You enough that we need not be poor right next door to Your available resources. They are all ours for the asking and receiving. So I walk from my poverty to Your riches. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: A red hen sat on an open barrel of grain and starved to death—save me from the non-receptive mentality.