This is regarded by many as an old-fashioned and effete theory.  They assume that the doctrine of evolution has conclusively shown that no man is a new creation, but is a necessary product of preceding lives; that his lineaments and talents may be traced to parentage, that the brilliance of the Cecils and the solid sense of the Cavendishes, for example, are simply a matter of heritage.  But even admitting this to be largely true, it does not invalidate the statement that our gifts are of God—­He is the Father of all the “families” of the earth, as well as of individuals.  He does not rule over one year only, but over all the generations.  Time and change, of which we make much, are nothing to Him.  The theory of evolution, therefore, merely extends our conceptions of the range of His power and forethought.  Whether a child presents a striking contrast to his parents, or whether he seems to be a re-incarnation of their talents, it is equally true that all things are of God, and that for Him and by Him all things consist.  Natural abilities are Divine trusts.

There is startling unevenness in the distribution of these gifts.  Not only do two families differ widely in their talents and possessions, but children of the same parents are often strangely unlike, physically and mentally.  One is radiantly beautiful, and another has no charm in appearance or in manners.  One is physically vigorous, and another is frail as a hothouse flower.  One is so quick that lessons are no trouble at all, and another wearily plods over them till ready to give up in despair.  Evidences of this unevenness of distribution meet us everywhere.  One man will make a fortune where another would not suspect a chance.  One remains a third-rate salesman all his days, and would spend even his holidays in looking into shop windows, for his soul does not rise beyond them; while his comrade is brimful of talent, and the world will ring at last with his name and fame.  We say “it is in them”; but what is in them is of God, and these very differences between men are intended by Him to elicit mutual consideration and mutual helpfulness; for we are members one of another, and the deficiencies of one are to be supplemented by the superabundance of another.

2.  The most brilliant gifts are of no great value apart from personal diligence, such as distinguished Jeroboam.

He did thoroughly the work which lay to his hand, whether as mason, tax-collector, or king.  Such diligence often rectifies the balance between two men of unequal ability.  The plodding tortoise still beats the hare, who believes herself to be so swift that she can afford time to sleep.  Any one who looks back on his classmates will see that the cleverest have not proved the most successful, but that the prizes of life have usually gone to those who diligently developed to the utmost what they had.  Scripture is crowded with examples of this.  Jacob laboured night and day, and therefore he prospered,