Cheshvan 21

Late one night, Rabbi Naftali of Ropschitz took a walk in the outskirts of town, where he met a night watchman and struck up a conversation with him. The watchman assumed that Rabbi Naftali was also a guard and, not recognizing him as one of the regular group, asked him, "For whom are you on duty?"

Rabbi Naftali was taken aback. He realized that while he was engaged in light conversation, his thoughts had momentarily deviated from the awareness of the presence of God and the need to concentrate always on serving Him. In the watchman's question "For whom are you on duty?", the Rabbi detected a reminder that he should get back on track. Tzaddikim consider themselves constantly duty bound, like a sentry charged with protecting the lives of comrades. Even a brief lapse of alertness constitutes gross negligence.

Many people think that God is served only during prayer and Torah study, or while performing mitzvos. The very first paragraph of the Shulchan Aruch contains the verse cited above and explains that a person's behavior should be regulated by the awareness that one is always in God's presence and under Divine vigilance. Such constant awareness will assure that every action, great or small, will conform to the Divine will.