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<p>&quot;So he called <em>ten</em> of his servants — and gave them <em>ten</em> <em>pounds</em>. <em>'Put this money to work,'</em> he said, <em>'until I come back.'&quot;</em> Luke 19:13<br><br>
  We are <em>doing business </em>in this world for Christ. Each one of us has something of His — a <em>pound </em>which He has <em>entrusted</em> to us — to trade with as His agent. Our <em>life </em>itself, with all its powers, its endowments, its opportunities, its privileges, its blessings, its possibilities — is <em>'our pound'.</em><br><br>
  Our <em>life </em>is not our own. We are not in this world merely to have a good time for a few years. Life is a <em>trust</em>.<br><br> We are not done with it either, when we have lived it through to its last day. We must render an <em>account </em>of it to Him who gave it to us. Our business is to gather <em>gains,</em> through our trading with our Lord's money. We are required to make the <em>most</em>that is possible of our life!<br><br>
  &quot;The first came forward and said — <em>Master, your <strong>pound</strong> has earned <strong>ten more pounds</strong>!&quot; </em>Luke 19:16<br><br>
  We always find a <em>few</em> of these <strong>ten-pound Christians</strong>among the followers of Christ. They are those Christians who, from the very beginning, through divine grace — strive to reach the <em>best </em>things attainable in life. They are not content with being merely saved from sin's guilt, with being mere members of the church. <br><br>They make their <em>consecration </em>to Christ complete, keeping nothing back. They set their ideal of obedience to their Lord — at the mark of <em> perfectiveness </em>, and are not slack in their striving, until they reach the mark in heaven. They seek to follow Christ entirely, fully, with their whole heart.<br><br> They accept every <em>duty</em> — without regard to its <em>cost</em>. They seek to be like Christ, imitating Him in <em>all </em>the elements of His character. They give their whole energy to the work and service of Christ. They lie, like John, on the Master's bosom, and their souls are struck through, as it were, with the Master's loving spirit.<br><br>
  These <strong>ten-pound Christians</strong> grow at last — into a Christ-likeness, a spiritual beauty, and a power of <em>usefulness </em>and <em>influence</em>, by which they are set apart among Christians, shining with <em>brighter lustre </em>than other stars, in the <em>galaxy of the church</em>.<br><br> Their one <em>pound </em>has made <em>ten </em>more pounds! Their <em>high spiritual attainment </em>has been won by their<em>diligent and wise use of the one pound</em> with which they began!