"Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: and I was afraid, and went and hid my talent in the earth: lo, here thou hast that is thine. His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from {185} him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." [Sidenote: A general law.] In this parable, Jesus has stated a far-reaching law of truth. It applies to every boy and to every girl, to every man and to every woman. And it operates in every field of endeavor--in the temporal world, in the mental world, in the spiritual world. Perhaps everyone knows someone else who is waiting for an opportunity. Perhaps, you yourselves, like the snail in Hans Christian Andersen's tale of "The Snail and the Rose Bush," think that you have a great deal in you, and say to yourselves as did the snail, "Wait till my time comes, I shall do a great deal more than to yield roses, or to bear nuts, or to give milk as cows do." But in thinking so and saying so you forget the eternal truth taught by Jesus in the parable of the talents. The big opportunity can come only if every day, like the rose bush, you make the most of that day's chance, and contribute the roses and the fragrance of your life to the world. [Sidenote: The water boy.]