The Toy Watch

A boy was learning to read the time on a pointers watch. His father, wanting to encourage him, gave him a toy watch, but the boy didn’t notice at the time that it was a toy.

When he went to bed that Saturday night, he wound it up and set it with the big wall clock, then tucked it under his pillow. Early in the morning, he reached under his pillow and pulled out his precious watch. Looking at the dial, in the half-darkness, he saw that the clock read 8 o’clock. He jumped out of bed and ran to his parents’ room yelling,

– Guys, it’s already eight o’clock! We will be late!

But the father and mother were not very pleased to be woken up at that hour, as it was still five in the morning. They sent him back to bed and he, saddened, only then realized that his watch, after all, was not what it appeared to be. For a few moments he lay awake in bed, thinking about what had happened, and then he got up, went to get a screwdriver, and took the gift apart.

He saw that although the dial was beautiful, he realized that it didn’t have any of those “little parts” that a real watch has, so it didn’t work. Later in the meeting the speaker was talking about faith and said that “faith without works is dead.“

So, coming home, the father sat down with his son and asked:
– My son, did you understand what the speaker said today about faith?

The boy replied:
– Yes, Dad, the speaker was talking about my watch.

A little confused and curious, the father asked:
– About your watch, what do you mean?

The boy then explained to his father:
– Yes, daddy the speaker said that “faith without works is dead!”, just like my toy watch. It doesn’t work, it’s just a toy so it’s a dead clock, it doesn’t work!

So the proud father commended his son for having understood the speaker’s speech!