| Strength and Beauty |
Chapter 14 |
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Yet there is no fear that any of us may be overlooked in this matter, or may miss this opportunity. Soldiers sometimes chafe in time of war because they are kept in the camp while their comrades are in the field. They are eager to become real soldiers. But none miss struggle with temptation, excepting those who die in early childhood. No one escapes the experience. Then our foes are also real. They are not fancied or imaginary. They are of two classes – there are enemies in our own heart, and enemies fighting outside.
The enemies within complicate the struggle. In war a traitor in the camp may do great mischief. He is unsuspected. He knows all that is going on inside, the movements that are planned, the strength or weakness of the citadel, the resources at command. Then he can open the door for the enemy and deliver the place into his hands.
So the enemies in our heart have vast power of hurting us. They may betray us in the very time of our battle with some outside foe and cause us to lose the victory; or after we have been victorious in the struggle they may cause us to fall into some other subtle sin. These hidden evils in our own heart make it easy for the assailants without to break through the gate. They parley with them over the wall and treacherously slip the bolt on some postern door and let them in. We have much to fear from the unholiness that we carry within us. If every feeling, disposition, affection, desire, and impulse in our heart were pure and altogether like Christ, if the enemy came and found nothing in us, we should be far safer in the midst of this world’s wickedness.
But there are also outside foes. We are like little forts in an enemy’s country. All about us swarm those who are hostile to us, watching every opportunity to break in at some gate or to climb over the ramparts to take possession. We must never forget that this world is not a friend to grace.
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