Enriched in everything
“I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, that you were ENRICHED in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,” 1 Corinthians 1:4-7
Have you ever felt like you were being ineffective in your witness for Christ Jesus? Have you ever been in a position that no matter what you thought to say just didn’t seem like it would be enough to bring someone to the truth of God’s love? What about the feeling of not being gifted enough to touch and influence the lives around you?
According to the key verse today, God’s grace on you will enrich your life in the areas of speaking, knowing and being gifted to share His message of salvation and reveal Jesus to those around you. My favorite part of this passage is the word “enriched”. For some reason every time I hear the word enriched, I think of enriching uranium. I know it’s an extremely random and strange thought, but my understanding of enriching uranium in the context of nuclear power is to bring it to its fullest strength or potential. The process is taking something from a useless or inactive state and bringing it to a useful form to its greatest potency. So, to be enriched in all utterance (speech) and knowledge in Him would be to increase to full strength or our greatest effectiveness.
It is not only God’s grace that produces this enrichment in your life. If you continue reading the following verses, you will find that coming into agreement in speech and getting rid of contention with those you fellowship and worship with brings this enrichment of a greater speaking ability and knowledge of God’s goodness. It also brings your gifts together with others to grow them to their greatest fruitfulness in God’s kingdom progress.
Well, in the process of enriching uranium, components are added to develop uranium to become an armor-penetrating weapon. The passage we are reading today is talking about how God’s people are one body and that we cannot function properly or powerfully without each other. Therefore, adding God’s gifts to His body of believers and agreeing with each other, we become an armor-penetrating weapon to defeat the enemy and rescue the wounded.
Today I want to encourage you to begin enriching your speech and knowledge of God by adding God’s grace and His goodness to your everyday activity. Start by receiving His grace so that you are not lacking in any gift needed to be a blessing to others. Ask God to make plain the opportunities in front of you to use the gifts He has given you. Then, position yourself in the body of Christ to do your part so that God’s work can be brought to its fullest potential. In doing this you will accomplish your life’s mission.
Today’s scripture reading: 1 Corinthians 1:4-17
4 I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus,
5 that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge,
6 even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you,
7 so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,
8 who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
10 Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
11 For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you.
12 Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.”
13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,
15 lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name.
16 Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other.
17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.
The Daily Dose 