A sign on the receptionist's counter instructed job applicants to fill out a
form and wait until they were summoned to enter the inner office. The young
man filled out his form and sat down with the seven other applicants in the
waiting area.
After a few minutes, the young man stood up, crossed the room to the door of
the inner office, and walked right in. Naturally the other applicants perked
up, wondering what was going on. They muttered among themselves that they
hadn't heard any summons yet. They assumed that the young man who went into
the office made a mistake and would be disqualified.
Within a few minutes, however, the employer escorted the young man out of
the office and said to the other applicants, "Gentlemen, thank you very much
for coming, but the job has just been filled."
The other applicants began grumbling to each other, and one spoke up saying,
"Wait a minute, I don't understand. He was the last to come in, and we never
even got a chance to be interviewed. Yet he got the job. That's not fair!"
The employer said, "I'm sorry, but the last several minutes while you've
been sitting here, the telegraph has been ticking out the following message
in Morse Code: 'If you understand this message, then come right in. The job
is yours.' None of you heard it or understood it. This young man did. The
job is his."
We live in a world that is full of busyness and clatter, like that office.
People are distracted and unable to hear the still, small voice of God as He
speaks in creation, in the Scriptures, or in the life and work of Jesus
Christ. Are you tuned in to God's voice? Do you hear Him when He speaks to
you? Are you listening? "This is my Son, whom I love . .. Listen to Him!"
Back when the telegraph was the fastest method of long-distance
communication, a young man applied for a job as a Morse Code operator.
Answering an ad in the newspaper, he went to the office address that was
listed. When he arrived, he entered a large, busy office filled with noise
and clatter, including the sound of the telegraph in the background.