In my school-teaching days, I had one boss who was annoyed by my piling system. Though in my private office few people ever saw my desk, its appearance bothered him. It was not haphazard. Each stack of papers had a purpose, and when I could see them, I remembered to deal with them.
I tried many times to explain my system, but he wasn’t convinced. One day I saw this scripture: Where no oxen are, the manger is clean; but much revenue comes by the strength of the ox. (Proverbs 14:4). When I shared this with him, he agreed that I was a very productive ox although my stall was a little messy. He still didn’t like it.
Later he put me charge of our department’s purchase of new furniture and equipment to update our surroundings. I interviewed colleagues about needs and suggestions, then pored over catalogs, completing more than a hundred purchase orders. I brought them to him to sign and send to the business office. “You’ve done yeoman’s work!” he exclaimed.
Glad to have been helpful I looked forward to seeing the new furniture upon returning to school in September. Then on the last day of school I received a call from the business manager, wondering why we hadn’t sent the purchase orders for our furniture. He said my boss had assured him that I had taken care of everything.
In my boss’s office I sat before his sparkling clean desk with nothing on top but a framed family photo and a fancy pen set. I reminded him that I had brought him the forms in March. He opened his bottom desk drawer. Instead of the expected hanging folders, I saw a drawer piled to the brim with papers. “They must be in here somewhere!” he said. “What color are they?” He started digging. About half-way down, he found the forms, quickly signed them without looking them over, and sent me to hand deliver them to the business manager.
Apparently, Mr. Neat Freak, who was so bothered by a few piles of paper on my desk, kept his clean by shoving papers into the drawer to deal with later. His desk was like the whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly but inside are full of dead men’s bones that Jesus talked about in Matthew 23:27. Are we like the supervisor’s desk, clean on the outside but a mess inside? We need to keep our focus on allowing God to work in our hearts, instead of putting all our efforts into enhancing our outward appearance.
If you would like to hear good Bible teaching that will encourage you to focus on your relationship with God, come and visit us at Charis Christian Church, 4811 E. Julep St., Suite 101, in Mesa.