The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1910-11-09
Make Use of
Your Gifts
By REV. ABNER H. LUCAS, D. D.

tnee, lOr as muCH as lIOu hHO"Col ~
we are to encamp In the Wilderness, and
thou mayest be with US instead OF eyes.
Mum. 1871.
What more glorious use al be
made Of knowledge. influence, and per-
sonal strength than to turn them TO
the help of the needy? If your vision
is penetrating and clear, what nobler
service can you render then to "be
eyes" for those who may not see
afar? If your hand has strength and
cunning, to what better use may 1t
be turned than lifting the burdens
Of the weak and teaching the unskill-
ed how best to accomplish their task!
If you have wealth you have pos
session of a power for good which Is
nearly omnipotent, If rightly applied.
What more worthy aim can lead men
and women Of wealth than that
through their help the poor may catch
visions Of the highest and holiest life?
If W. have the gift Of prophecy, we
must use it for the instruction of the
ignorant, II we retain it.. To hesitate
is ingloriously to fail; selishly to
keep for ourselves what God has In
tended shall serve his children, Is to
lose life with all its opportunities OF
good. Hobab's knowledge and infu-
ence never were more precious to him
than when, having refused the appeal
to enrich himself, he accepted the OPP
portunity to assist others. AS the new
dangers arose, and he helped Moses
meet them and conquer them, his own
mind and soul grew imperial. BY the
number, magnitude, and stress Of the
responsibilities Of others, he was de-
veloped into his own worthiest life.
When a great Italian commander was
defeated he issued his immortal ap-
peal: SOLDIERS, l am without money
and without reward. l have nothing
to offer you but cold and hunger, and
rags and hardship. Let him who
loves his country follow me-" But
with that summons to s%elf-denial and
patriotism he gathered to his side
the choicest souls Of his generation.
The men who followed in response to
that appeal became courageous
heroes themselves. When u Lord
turned and said to the multitude,
The Son of man hath not to where
to lay his head" and invited them to
follow him, he was calling TO
men and women who had counted the
cost, and were ready to surrender
themselves to the cause Of purity,
truth, and human helpfulness. The
way Of life is narrow; the gate to it
Is narrow; but the narrowness OF the
way and the gate are its glory. Mar
rowness Of the way demands energy.
high purpose and noble perseverance.
There is no other way. To invite a
great soul to a broad path is to invite
him to smallness, to the cessation Of
growth and impotence. The cry has
been heard in every age, Would God
1t were easier to be good!" And
would God it were easier to redeem
the earth!" But that is a mistaken
cry. When the ten spies returned
from Canaan murmuring because OF
the obstacles to their conquest, their
murmuring was an evidence of veal
ness Of character; but the cry of Ca
leb and Joshua was, up, let US con-
quer these giants, and take their
walled cities" That was the token of
the greatness Of the two.
Jesus Christ did not come primarily
to change the circumstances that
should make life easy. but 20 give a
new incentive and lofty inspiration
that would enable men to meet life's
circumstances as they are. He never
promised his friends that the path Of
duty should be free from danger. In
the spirit Of the Spartan mother who
charged her soldier son, Come home
with your shield or on It," Christ says
to his disciples, Take the field and
save humanity, cost what it may" 1t
Is always true that the choice Of the
broad path Of personal ease and COM
fort, instead of the narrow path of
duty, leads to the loss Of self-respect,
the worlds esteem. and. true success.
Sir Henry Stanley describes bravery
as a requisite for those who push into
the African forest, and says: 1.-THE
bigger the work the greater the Joy Of
doing it. The whole-hearted striving
and wrestling with difficulty to lay
hold with a firm grip and level head,
and the calm resolution of the mon
ster, and Juggling and toiling and
westling at it today, tomorrow, and
the next, until it is done-is the SOL
dier's creed Of forward, ever forward;
It is a mans faith that for this task
he was born" When Mckay wrote
from Uganda in Africa to the home
church, he said, For our work at
this station we want the best men
in England; not a man who can be
easily spared, but the man who can
not be spared" Christianity from
the beginning has grown upon tasks
that were so great as to require the
conservation of all it's power. 20,
pray not for easy lives, pray to be
stronger men; do not pray for power
equal to your tasks; then the doing
of your work shall be miracle, but
YOU shall be a miracle; every day
you shall wonder at yourself, at the
richness Of the life which has come
to you by the grace Of Cod"
Along the Way of Light.