"The world is waiting for you," said the mother to her four year old daughter. "You are not here in this world for yourself. You are here for God and for others." These thoughts expressed a theme in the household of William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army.

As she grew up Katie Booth would repeat to herself the words of her mother: "The world is waiting for me. I am not in this world for myself. I am here for God and others." Little Katie grew up to become one of the most effective evangelists of her day in Europe. She ministered to the down and out in Paris and took the gospel to the cities of France. "I've never heard anyone make Jesus so real to me," many who flocked to hear her speak would say. Tens of thousands obeyed her summons to follow Christ.

While still a young woman ministering in France she was recognized by a man in the same train compartment who confessed that he had seen her at work in Valence. Then, as if to insist that he was doing his bit as well, added, "I go to church every week."

"Is that all you do for a dying world? You go to church?"

Our lives are like the little dash between the date of birth and the date of death on a gravestone. What will we do with the 'little dash' of our lives?

Jesus taught a parable to remind his disciples that one day the kingdom of God would be the only thing going. A man of noble birth would go to a distant country to be appointed king and eventually return. In the meantime, his appointed servants were to invest the gift of 'a mina' a monetary sum approximately equal to three months' wages). This would not be an overnight trip. An indefinite amount of time would transpire before the man would return as King to fully establish His kingdom. When he returned, each servant would have to give an account for his investments for the King (Luke 19:11-27).

Nine of the ten servants received the gift gladly and invested it with considerable success. One buried the gift rather than receiving it with joy, because he despised the man who would be King. Because the man never submitted to the King, nor appreciated His work or person, the man had nothing when the King returned, not even the mina, which he seemed to have.

The parable reminds us that those entrusted with the gospel do not equally steward it. Some never discern the nature of the King and perish with others who have despised Him. Some are short-sighted, do their little bit; never truly understanding how our 'little dash of a life' with the gospel can make such a big difference.

What are you doing for a lost and dying world? The world is waiting to see.