Lunch had just begun when our guest casually announced his family had the day before sold a well-known product, clearing $13 million. Before we even had time to choke on the soup, he exclaimed, “Guess what I discovered in the Bible today!” And he proceeded to treat us to a spiritual feast. It is that way whenever we are with him. He delights in the Lord and his Word.
The Septuagint translation of Psalm 37:4 reads, “Indulge thyself with delight in the Lord.” It is a joy to meet Christians who indulge in the Lord’s delights until they are full to overflowing with spiritual refreshment!
There are also the addicted. Paul refers in 1 Corinthians 16:15 to certain believers who had “addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints.”
We knew such a family of Christians in Wheaton when we were there attending college. A large and generous family, they lived in a large and generous Victorian mansion. Every Sunday they laid out a full-course, sit-down dinner for 40 to 60 people—mostly the children of missionaries, but also some who just happened to need a good meal.
Another friend, who lived under a hostile atheistic regime, knit for others. She could turn out a sweater a week—even pants. With bitter winters and no central heating, these provided excellent thermal underwear.
One old Irish friend from China lived in a little room in a retirement home in Belfast. I stopped to see her on a visit to Northern Ireland, and there, in the center of the room, was her work desk: a folding table. “Let me show you what I’m doing,” she said enthusiastically, the blue eyes I knew as a child still lovely, still twinkling.
On the table was an odd assortment of empty plastic bottles, boxes, and bits and pieces no one else wanted. “I send these to my missionary friends to pass around. It helps in a clinic when a wee child has to have a shot.” To those who have nothing, even an empty plastic bottle is a treasure.
Each of these individuals was “addicted to the ministry of the saints.”
“Indulgent in the Lord’s delights” and “addicted to the ministry”: what a combination!
