On Abram's way back with the spoils one of the strangest scenes of
history occurs. Whom should he meet but Melchizedek, who brought out
bread and wine; and the priestly king blessed the Father of the
Faithful. After the old king of peace had blest him, he met the King
of Sodom, and the King of Sodom said, "You take the money, and I
will take the people"; but Abram replied:
"Not a thing will I take, not even the shoe-latchets, lest thou
shouldst say, I have made Abram rich."
There is another surrender. There was a temptation _to get rich at
the hands of the King of Sodom_. But the King of Salem had blessed
him, and this world did not tempt him. It tempted Lot, and no doubt
Lot thought Abram made a great mistake when he refused to take this
wealth; but Abram would not touch a thing; he spurned it and turned
from it. He had the world under his feet; he was living for another
world. He would not be enriched from such a source.
Every one of us is met by the prince of this world and the Prince of
Peace. The one tempts us with wealth, pleasure, ambition: but our
Prince and Priest is ready to succor and strengthen us in the hour
of temptation.
A friend of mine told me some years ago that his wife was very fond
of painting, but that for a long time he never could see any beauty
in her paintings; they all looked like a daub to him. One day his
eyes troubled him and he went to see an oculist. The man looked in
amazement at him and said:
"You have what we call a short eye and a long eye, and that makes
everything a blur."
He gave him some glasses that just fitted him, and then he could see
clearly. Then, he said, he understood why it was that his wife was
so carried away with art, and he built an art gallery, and filled it
full of beautiful things; because everything looked so beautiful
after he had had his eyes straightened out.