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Read Mark 2

A Public Agenda Foundation study, coauthored by Daniel Yankelovich, came up with these top 10 qualities that today’s workers want in a job:

Work with people who treat me with respectInteresting workRecognition for good workChance to develop skillsWork for people who listen if you have ideas about how to do things betterA chance to think for myselfSeeing the end results of my workWorking for efficient managersA job that is not too easyFeeling well-informed about what is going on

Read Ephesians 4:32

Do you need to be set free? Honestly now, is your next step the need to forgive? Do it. Don’t let anything or anyone talk you out of it. I know, I know. After all the misery you have had to endure, why should you have to be the one who humbles yourself and forgives?

Christ could have asked the same question at Golgotha. Perhaps He did at Gethsemane. But once He discerned the Father’s determination, there was no looking back...no turning back.

Remember His cry from the cross? “Father, forgive them...” (Luke 23:34).

Read 2 Samuel 12:7–14

Read Luke 5:4–11

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.”

“Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.” And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking.

Read Mark 6:33–44

Centuries ago a little boy found himself in the midst of a vast crowd of people—larger than any group he’d ever seen. He had come out of curiosity, having heard that a man named Jesus was nearby.

Not knowing how far he would have to travel or how long he would be gone, the boy had packed a small lunch for himself, a couple of small fish and some bread.

Suddenly a man tapped the lad on the shoulder and asked what he had in his hand. And the next thing the boy knew, his lunch was feeding over five thousand people!

Read Isaiah 29:13–16

The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.

Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.”

Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the Lord, who do their work in darkness and think, “Who sees us? Who will know?”

Read Genesis 50

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. (Genesis 50:20)

After a lengthy bout with despair, severe depression, and suicide attempts, writer and poet William Cowper (1731–1800) discovered comfort in God’s providence, which led him to write “Shining out of Darkness”:

Read Galatians 6:1–10

Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.

Read 2 Samuel 1:25–27

How the mighty have fallen in battle! Jonathan lies slain on your heights. I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother; you were very dear to me. Your love for me was wonderful, more wonderful than that of women. How the mighty have fallen! The weapons of war have perished! (2 Samuel 1:25–27)

Read Genesis 6

The longer we walk with the Lord, the more we realize that we really don’t know what each new day may bring. A phone call can come in the middle of the night shattering our joy. Suddenly everything changes. It’s amazing what a knock at the door can bring or what the opening of a letter can do.

I don’t say these things to conjure up fear in our hearts, but simply to remind us that God alone knows our future. And there’s no safer, no better, no more rewarding place to be than in the nucleus of His will, regardless of where that may be.