posted by Adar Kielczewski

When Herbert W. Armstrong was young, he asked a lot of questions. One time those questions got him in quite a situation.

“I must have been on one of my usual information-seeking forays, asking so many questions that ways and means had to be thought up for ridding the printers of the nuisance,” Mr. Armstrong wrote in his autobiography.

So the owner of the shop asked Mr. Armstrong to get half a pint of “pigeon milk” from the grocery store. A grocery store worker told him they were out of pigeon milk and to check the jewelry store. But—surprise, surprise—the jewelry store didn’t have it. So he was sent to the furniture store. From the furniture store, young Herbert was sent to the drug store and then after he had visited almost every other store in town, he ended up at his father’s furniture store.

Upon asking his father for pigeon milk, Mr. Armstrong Sr. explained Herbert had been sent on a “fool’s errand.”

There’s a lesson in that. You can chase on a fool’s errand in your life, seeking useless things. That errand could be something as simple as following unwise advice or counsel, or chasing after something that we know is actually really bad for us (like a romance at the wrong time, as Ecclesiastes 3:5 explains).

Sometimes things that are not that important can sidetrack us. For instance, we can waste countless hours in front of television instead of developing our minds. We can let tasks or chores take longer than they should and then use them as an excuse not to get involved in something.

Sometimes we can chase misguided dreams especially when we’re young. Maybe it’s an unwise dream to be a rock star or extreme sports athlete. Maybe it’s the desire to get into an industry that isn’t very godly.

Some people make a life out of going to college instead of ever starting to apply what they learn. That stems from going to college without a clear goal, a definite direction of where one wants to go—and winds up a fool’s errand.

Be wise about your goals, and use your time wisely—to pursue wise aspirations. Don’t find yourself caught in a fool’s errand!

To learn about Mr. Armstrong and the lessons you can learn from his life, read “Question Machine” and “Spark of Ambition.” This particular anecdote came from Chapter 1 of Mr. Armstrong’s autobiography.