Compassion on the Job

Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread. Today's reading titled, Compassion on the Job, was written by Jennifer Benson Schult. My friend Ellen calculates payroll for an accounting firm. This may sound like a straightforward job, but there are times when employers submit their information later than request it. Ellen often makes up for this by working long hours so employees can receive their money without delay.

She does this out of consideration for the families that depend on those funds to buy groceries, purchase medicine, and pay for housing. Ellen's compassionate approach to her job points me to Jesus. On earth, He sometimes ministered to people when it was inconvenient for Him. For instance, in Matthew, chapter 14, Christ wanted some alone time after He heard that John the Baptist had been killed. So, He boarded a boat in search of an isolated place. Perhaps He needed to grieve for His relative and pray through His sorrow.

There was just one problem. Crowds of people tagged along behind Him. This group had various physical needs. It would have been much easier to send the people away, but verse 14 says, When Jesus landed and saw them, He had compassion on them and healed their sick. Although it was part of Jesus' calling to teach people and cure their diseases as He ministered on earth, His empathy affected the way in which He carried out His responsibilities. May God help us to recognize His compassion in our lives and give us the strength to pass it on to others.

Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Matthew, chapter 14, verses 1 through 14. At that time Herod the Tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus, and he said to his attendants, This is John the Baptist. He has risen from the dead.

That is why miraculous powers are at work in him. Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, for John had been saying to him, It is not lawful for you to have her. Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people because they considered John a prophet.

On Herod's birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced for the guests and pleased Herod so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. Prompted by her mother, she said, Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist. The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted and had John beheaded in the prison.

His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. John's disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus. When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place.

Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. Let's pray. Dear Jesus, thank you for always meeting our spiritual and physical needs. We pray that you would teach us to do the same for others, always putting their needs ahead of our own and doing what we can to care for them. Help us to model your love to those around us and point them to you as the reason we care so much. Thank you, Lord. It's in your name we pray. Amen.