All that he owned he sold to buy
One pearl of priceless worth,
This merchantman whose treasures were
The riches of the earth.
"Better the one," he reasoned thus,
"Greater than all the rest,
Better the one than the many," he said,
"When that one is the best."
All that we own of worldliness,
All that is false or base,
We too must lose if we would gain
The pearl of heavenly grace.
Here is the kingdom, not afar,
Never beyond, above;
And here the wealth beyond all count—
The riches of God's love.
