Years ago a boy walked into a drugstore and asked if he could use the telephone.
Receiving permission, he took the receiver and said, “Operator, give me number 604. Hello, Dr. Anderson, do you want to hire a boy to cut the grass, milk the cow, and run errands for you? Oh, you already have a boy. Dr. Anderson, are you completely satisfied with the boy you have? OK then. Bye, Doctor.”
As the boy thanked the druggist and started out the door, the druggist called to him, “Just a minute son, if you are looking for work, I could use a boy like you.”
“Thank you sir,” replied the boy, “but I already have a job.”
“Didn’t I just hear you trying to get a job with Dr. Anderson?”
“No sir,” said the boy. “I’m the boy working for Dr. Anderson, and I was just checking up on myself.”
This points out the great need for self-examination. Perhaps Paul’s exhortation would encourage us: “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). —Gary C. Hampton, Jackson, Mississippi
