What is this? A chisel. And what is this? A chisel, too. But what a difference! The first is bright and clean, sharp at the edge, and beautiful as well as useful. The second is black and rusty, ugly to look at, and as for the edge, it is so battered that you could cut almost as well with a piece of wood as with it. What made the difference? Why, some one has taken good care of the first tool, and no care has been taken of the second.
Put your fingers on your lips. What tools are hidden back of them? Ah, now you show them when you smile! Yes, dozens of pretty, white chisels, far more wonderful than any chisel ever made by man. Have you ever seen teeth black and ragged at the edges and with holes in them, almost useless, and very painful? How did they get in that condition? Why, just as the ugly chisel did; no one took care of them.
Ah, but what happens when your teeth begin to get out of order, begin to get rough on the edges, and with holes in them? They ache, and you are in very great pain. The chisel doesn’t mind when a careless man knocks a piece out of it, or leaves it out to rust in the rain. Do you wish your teeth were like the chisel? No, indeed; not if you are sensible. For if your teeth didn’t ache as soon as they were out of order, I fear they would crumble entirely away before you would go to the dentist.
That’s one important reason, then, why God sends us pain; it is to warn us to take better care of ourselves. Suppose I were to stick this pin into my hand. It would hurt, and I wouldn’t go very far. But if my skin were as dull and unfeeling as leather, I might cut myself terribly without knowing it, and I should not be half as careful to keep out of danger. Let us all thank the good Father that he has not made us without nerves, like the sticks and stones, but sends us pain and sickness to warn us when we are not taking care of ourselves.