November 11 — He that doth not renounce all that he possesseth cannot be my Disciple. Luke xiv. 33

Consider, first, that every Christian, as such, ought to be a disciple of Jesus Christ; the very name of Christian implies as much; and the first Christians were originally known and distinguished by no other name than that of disciples, that is, of scholars and followers of this heavenly Master. See then, my soul, what a character of a Christian obliges thee to, by the declaration of the Son of God himself. If thou wilt be a disciple of Christ, if thou wilt be a Christian indeed, and to the purpose of securing to thyself that happy eternity with the living God, that is prepared for Christas true disciples thou must renounce all things else, how near or dear soever they may be to thee, to follow him. Thou must renounce them, if not in effect, at least in affection, by taking off thy heart from them, and transferring it to thy only sovereign Go; and thou must renounce them in effect too, as often, and as far, as they %tand in thy way; so not as to hinder thee from following arist. This is the great and fundamental lesson of practice Christianity; this is the abridgment of the gospel; to give up all, that thou mayst find all; to be disengaged from the creature, that thou mayst be united to the Creator.

Consider, secondly, that our Lord explains this obligation of our renouncing all things else, in order to be his disciples, by two comparisons; the one of a man, who purposes to build a tower, but first sits down to reckon up the charges, to see if he has wherewithal to finish the work; the other of a king, who is going to wage war against another king, but first considers whether he has sufficient forces to encounter his adversary. Every Christian is highly concerned in these two comparisons; inasmuch as every Christian, if he desires to be happy for ever, must raise a spiritual building here, upon the foundation which is Christ; a building that may be proof against all storms and inundations; a tower that may stand for ever: and every Christian is engaged in a warfare against the prince of darkness and all his allies; wherein, if he does not come off with victory, he must be miserable for all eternity. Therefore the Christian must sit down, and must reckon up the necessary charges of this building, to see that he may be able to finish it; and he must take care to secure to himself sufficient forces to enable him to carry on this war, and to subdue the enemy. Now, it is by renouncing all things else to follow Christ, that we are associated to him, and made partakers of all his treasures, and we exchange our weakness for his strength; and thus we are enabled both to elevate our building even to heaven, and to overthrow all the powers of hell.

Consider, thirdly, how true it is, that our affections to the things of this world are indeed the chiefest hinderance to us, as well in carrying on our spiritual building, as in our conflicts with our spiritual enemies. The builder will make no progress in his building, if, instead of applying himself seriously to the work he has undertaken, he loses his time in amusing himself about other things, nothing to his purpose; or if he takes little or no care to procure the necessary materials, or even suffers his hands and feet to be shackled, when he should be at work. It is the case of all such Christians as have not yet mortified their affections to the things of the world. These, alas! take up their thoughts; these employ their time; what should be expended in carrying on the great building, is all wasted upon these; and the builder lies groveling upon the earth, tied down with the chains of his misplaced affections. And as for the wrestling in which we are engaged with the spirits of wickedness, it is no less certain that nothing gives them a greater hold on us than our unmortified affections to these worldly toys. It is like carrying a load of clothes about us, when we are to wrestle with one that is stripped, who will be sure, by that occasion, to have the advantage of us. Therefore we, who are to wrestle with the devil, who is naked, must fling off our garments, saith St Gregory, (HomK. 32,) by renouncing our worldly affections, or we shall be sure to be brought down by him.

Conclude to make it thy perpetual study, to take off thy affections from all things of the earth, and to disregard the creature, that thou mayst find the Creator. And, seeing that a great grace is required to this, which may untie the soul from all that is not God, and carry her up, upon the wings of the dove, to rest eter nally in him, continually pray for this grace.