MAN ENRICHED by Wm. Covert

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jan 22, 1902

MAN ENRICHED.

By Wm. Covert

ALL the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are found in Jesus (Col. 2:3); and by beholding Him, the child of faith is changed into the same image. He secures in his own soul these treasures. 2 Cor. 3:18. This wealth through the life of Christ becomes incarnate in the believer. The great riches are silently but surely duplicated in the one who steadily beholds Him. A new creation is wrought, and the divine nature in Christ is implanted in His children.

Eternal life in Christ is more than a question of longevity. The quality, the privileges, and the associations must be considered in determining the worth of a soul. “They shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon His land.” Zech. 9:16.

The redeemed are the royal diadem of the Redeemer—even the priceless badge of His kingship. In Jesus the saved of Adam’s race are lifted up to “the Head of all principality and power.” Col. 2:10. They are made more to Him than angels. They are closer than cherubim or seraphim. “O how great is Thy goodness, which Thou hast laid up for them that fear Thee; which Thou hast wrought for them that trust in Thee before the sons of men!” Ps. 31:19. No celestial being can ever know so close a relationship to Christ Jesus as the soul which is saved through His blood.

How One Life May be Affected by Another.

A little while ago I met upon the highway an aged couple who wished to be directed on a journey. Looking upon their countenances, it could readily

be seen that they had traveled life’s road together for many a year. The influence exerted by each over the other had wrought within their whole being a likeness that made the twain a unit life. A half-century together on the same thoroughfare had cast their features into a similar mould. Every little incident had done its part, and all the principal events had combined to make them one. As they sat in their carriage, clad in garments colored in one dye, canopied with hair whitened by a like number of frosts, and with corresponding wrinkles made through a long set of mutual cares, the picture was an impressive one. Meditating upon it, the scripture came forcibly to mind which says, “We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image.” 2 Cor. 3:18. He who looks by faith upon Jesus becomes filled with His likeness.

Every act in life has its influence. The company one keeps has a part to act in shaping the manner of life. It even forms the destiny. The words, the deeds, the thoughts,—all these leave their impress and bear fruit. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.”—Solomon.

Froude has said that “no man is what he would have been if Luther had not lived.” W. M. Punshon wrote: “O, it is a terrible power that I have—this power of influence; . . . it speaks, it walks, it moves. It is powerful in every look of my life. I can not live to myself. I must either be a light to illumine, or a tempest to destroy.”

The stone tossed into the pond has its effect upon the whole body of water; and the water in turn affects the neighboring vegetation differently by being disturbed. As it is agitated, it sends out its moisture, which settles upon every leaf, twig, blade, and seed-pod in the vicinity, and all get a little more of life.

As the Lord Sees.

Multitudes are born into the world every day, and for many there is a welcome. Almost as great a number pass away, causing untold sorrow in many a home. But while no one person on earth knows of all these experiences, God understands them all. He says, “All souls are Mine.” Every individual is really and personally the Father’s. God’s family is exceedingly large. His care is for every one. His desire is to save every soul. He willeth not the death of any. No one comes into the world or goes out of it unnoticed by Him. He loves all alike, and has the same desire to save one that He has to save another. He wants all to come to repentance and live. He alone can pass an impartial judgment, for He only knows the full significance of all the things, great and small, that have influenced a life. His view is the only complete and perfect one—that which sees all sides and parts at the same time.

It should encourage us to know that the Creator, while knowing all that is, all that has been, and all that is to come, has done so much to save a soul. This is the only reliable way of finding out the estimate God puts upon us. Wm. Covert.