GOD'S DEMAND.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 3, Issue 249, 20 November 1914, Page 3 (Supplement)

GOD'S DEMAND.

Dy HKV I?. J. CAMPBKLL. M.A

I God jnakto upon you the fullest possible demand: iie will not .-pare }° u > and there mu.st be 110 keeping t>ack vii*>n tlm has to be maue; l»ut let tlio olfering be tiio f nlles; in our power. .Wagniy lo the utmost what God has given yon, and which is only you'rs 'nx-aiue lie lia< lent it to you. .Make the two talents four and the live talents leu; enlarge your spiritual gilt.s. that the nfierm<: ol vmii - whole iHe in Uie oi divine love may If an ottering worthy ol tlie gp ait lies•> 01 the tru.-t repo.sed in you. .vlake as nuieli ol yourseil a.s ever you can. Ji you a.re wise, seek to become wiser; H you have vision ol truth withheld from o;her>, " h-t know kxig e grow Rom more and more ; it you are endowed with moral strength where others lack, mclease it in strenuous cttort tor the common weal. Never plume jour aelt upon your sii|>eriorit y to anyone; \ou are. the servant ot all, and mere us no faculty ol which you stand po-sse-M-U willed must be'returned to GoU tinusod, it so be dial opiiortujiity has l>eoii given to that enu. Not in one deed only, or in one great hour, but all your Jute through let your divine euiduenient ol power be manifest ni the tiervice ol .vour kind. 1 hen sacrifice will become a joy, though ottentimes us most glorious moments will bo ushered 111 by pain, ii is a joy to leel and know tuat you are acquiring dominion over yourseil, uttering your-elt. discovering you'r own soul, utting and expanding u; but the jov would speedily turn to ashes if the .soul thus gamed were not concurrently pound forth in bic\s~uig on the world. This is what are heie tor, aud to fall short of it to miss life.

iou business men who have e-arvod out your careers with strong hand, you ar« cleverer than the rest of us along th,, line of your success, but if your cleverneNS.; is only evercused tor your own sake, better never have had it ;.t all. There is no private property in the gifes of Cod, and he will require his own with usury. You thinkers, teachers, guides, hcloers, and directors of your fellows, beware lest you mistake the reason vhv you are what you are; you must grow as you give and give as you grow, or your destinv remains unfulfilled. And you drudgers and burden-bearers, who all your lives have trodden the same round of lowly duty, do not think that because your task is humble it matters lews than those of others, or that God will allow vou with impunity to bury your soul. No. you are wanted in the grand scheme of things, and when the brief discipline of earth is over .vou will see that the number of the talents granted to anv one individual has never mattered : they all belong to God, as much as the gilts of sun and air; the important thing is that when the day of reckoning comes we may not be ashamed of our stewardship. May we one and all so live as to win the benediction—"Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful ov©r a few things. I will make thee ruler over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."