Three young men stood before me. They all desired to become my apprentices, but I only had room for one. I already had four other employees in my shop, and I could only take on one more. The only question left was how to choose the man I would take under my wing to become a cobbler.

“Come with me to the back room,” I ordered them. The boys followed me with wide eyes as they watched my other employees with hammers and scissors, cutting and shaping the new shoes I would sell to my customers.

I took them to a pile of shoes all the way in the back of the room. Giving each boy a cloth and a bottle of polish, I said, “Polish these shoes. At the end of the day, set your own work aside in separate piles and put the clothes and bottles of polish atop this work station.” Then, I left them to work.

For a month, I gave them jobs such as cleaning up around the shop and polishing shoes. On the last day of the month, I looked at the shoes they had polished.

The first boy had a large pile of shoes finished, but when I looked closer at the shoes, the polish work was streaky. He had even missed a few spots.

The second boy didn’t have as large of a pile, but the polish work was uneven. To make polish look good, you need to polish in rows. There were no rows on his. This was done sloppily and carelessly.

The third boy had a medium pile of polished shoes, and when I checked his work, it was flawless. He had done his very best at a mundane task. I knew which boy I would take on as an apprentice.

Moral: If you are faithful in little things, you can be trusted with greater things