Let us consider a concrete case. Not so very long ago, there was employed in one of the great American steel works, a young boy to carry water. You all know what that means. And it must be admitted that there is but small opportunity in the humble calling of water-carrier. His master had entrusted the boy with a single talent. But as the master went the rounds of inspection, he observed that the water boy was always on the job. No matter how early the master came, the boy was there {186} before him; no matter how late the master stayed, the boy stayed later than he. He worked, he observed, he studied; he was making his talent grow. By and by, a vacancy occurred higher up. The master did not hesitate. He called to him the water boy, and gave to him the work of greater responsibility. That was but the beginning. Today the water boy is one of the most highly honored and trusted men in the great steel industry of America. No place, you see, is so humble but that it has its own opportunity for service. And that opportunity improved, there lie always greater chances ahead. That opportunity neglected, failure only can follow. One can become ruler of many things only if one has proved oneself faithful in few. [Sidenote: Intellectual endeavor.] Examples might be multiplied to prove the truth of the law taught by Jesus. When boys and girls go to school, it is those who make the most of that opportunity that grow in intelligence and power. They progress steadily until they become leaders of men. Knowledge is added to knowledge, until they master the field in which they are working. On the other hand, those who neglect the opportunity afforded by school attendance, become relatively more and more ignorant. The world forges ahead in knowledge and wisdom. Their industrious associates go forward by strides. But they, themselves, lag ever farther and farther behind. Verily, to him who hath is given, until he possesses in abundance; whereas from him who hath not, is taken even that he had. [Sidenote: Spiritual growth.] But it was not to temporal and mental things only that Jesus meant to apply the law illustrated in the {187} parable of the talents. Perhaps His chief purpose was to apply it to the spiritual life. There, as in the physical life, one must serve, and do one's utmost, in whatever calling God may have placed one. According to one's courage and faithfulness will one's reward be. And that reward, you must note, does not consist of a commission in money. It consists of a larger responsibility, a larger opportunity to serve, a place of greater honor in the kingdom of God. Such a reward--whether in the physical or in the spiritual life--is after all the only reward worth while. [Sidenote: The lesson applied.]