To everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. Matthew 25:29.

Those who accept Jesus as their personal Savior will live lives of humility, patience, and love. They did not give themselves to the Lord for the sake of the profit they should receive. They have become one with Christ, as Christ is one with the Father, and daily they receive their reward in being partakers of the humility, the reproach, the self-denial, and the self-sacrifice of Christ. They find their joy in keeping the Lord’s ordinances. In true service they find hope, and peace, and comfort; and with faith and courage they go forward in the path of obedience, following Him who gave His life for them. By their consecration and devotion they reveal to the world the truth of the words, “I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.”

“They that feared the Lord,” writes the prophet Malachi, “spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name.” Were the words spoken, words of complaint, of faultfinding, of self-sympathy? No; in contrast to those who speak against God, those who fear Him speak words of courage, of thankfulness, and of praise. They do not cover the altar of God with tears and lamentations; they come with faces lighted up with the beams of the Sun of Righteousness, and praise God for His goodness.

Such words make all heaven rejoice. Those who utter them may be poor in worldly possessions, but by faithfully giving to God the portion He claims, they acknowledge their indebtedness to Him. Self-serving does not make up the chapters of their life history. In love and gratitude, with songs of joy upon their lips, they bring their offerings to God, saying as did David, Of Thine own we freely give Thee. “And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.” …

Those who truly serve God will fear Him, but not as did the unfaithful servant, who hid his talent in the earth because he was afraid the Lord would receive His own. They will fear to dishonor their Maker by failing to improve their talents.—The Review and Herald, January 5, 1897.