"Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away." Then give me grace to
rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so
long. In Jesus' Name, Amen._

II

_The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing_

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven.--Matt. 5:3

Before the Lord God made man upon the earth He first prepared for him by
creating a world of useful and pleasant things for his sustenance and
delight. In the Genesis account of the creation these are called simply
"things." They were made for man's uses, but they were meant always to
be external to the man and subservient to him. In the deep heart of the
man was a shrine where none but God was worthy to come. Within him was
God; without, a thousand gifts which God had showered upon him.

But sin has introduced complications and has made those very gifts of
God a potential source of ruin to the soul.

Our woes began when God was forced out of His central shrine and
"things" were allowed to enter. Within the human heart "things" have
taken over. Men have now by nature no peace within their hearts, for God
is crowned there no longer, but there in the moral dusk stubborn and
aggressive usurpers fight among themselves for first place on the
throne.

This is not a mere metaphor, but an accurate analysis of our real
spiritual trouble. There is within the human heart a tough fibrous root
of fallen life whose nature is to possess, always to possess. It covets
"things" with a deep and fierce passion. The pronouns "my" and "mine"
look innocent enough in print, but their constant and universal use is
significant. They express the real nature of the old Adamic man better
than a thousand volumes of theology could do. They are verbal symptoms
of our deep disease. The roots of our hearts have grown down into
_things_, and we dare not pull up one rootlet lest we die. Things have
become necessary to us, a development never originally intended. God's
gifts now take the place of God, and the whole course of nature is upset
by the monstrous substitution.

Our Lord referred to this tyranny of _things_ when He said to His
disciples, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and
take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall
lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it."

Breaking this truth into fragments for our better understanding, it
would seem that the