re is within each of us an enemy which we tolerate at
our peril. Jesus called it "life" and "self," or as we would say, the
_self-life_. Its chief characteristic is its possessiveness: the words
"gain" and "profit" suggest this. To allow this enemy to live is in the
end to lose everything. To repudiate it and give up all for Christ's
sake is to lose nothing at last, but to preserve everything unto life
eternal. And possibly also a hint is given here as to the only effective
way to destroy this foe: it is by the Cross. "Let him take up his cross
and follow me."

The way to deeper knowledge of God is through the lonely valleys of soul
poverty and abnegation of all things. The blessed ones who possess the
Kingdom are they who have repudiated every external thing and have
rooted from their hearts all sense of possessing. These are the "poor in
spirit." They have reached an inward state paralleling the outward
circumstances of the common beggar in the streets of Jerusalem; that is
what the word "poor" as Christ used it actually means. These blessed
poor are no longer slaves to the tyranny of _things_. They have broken
the yoke of the oppressor; and this they have done not by fighting but
by surrendering. Though free from all sense of possessing, they yet
possess all things. "Theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Let me exhort you to take this seriously. It is not to be understood as
mere Bible teaching to be stored away in the mind along with an inert
mass of other doctrines. It is a marker on the road to greener pastures,
a path chiseled against the steep sides of the mount of God. We dare not
try to by-pass it if we would follow on in this holy pursuit. We must
ascend a step at a time. If we refuse one step we bring our progress to
an end.

As is frequently true, this New Testament principle of spiritual life
finds its best illustration in the Old Testament. In the story of
Abraham and Isaac we have a dramatic picture of the surrendered life as
well as an excellent commentary on the first Beatitude.

Abraham was old when Isaac was born, old enough indeed to have been his
grandfather, and the child became at once the delight and idol of his
heart. From that moment when he first stooped to take the tiny form
awkwardly in his arms he was an eager love slave of his son. God went
out of His way to comment on the strength of this affection. And it is
not hard to understand. The baby represented everything sacred to his
father's