70. Be a Job Scout

On any given day the classifieds section in your local newspaper is full of jobs waiting to be filled. Why not help someone you know who’s unemployed find a job? A friend of our family who is a single mom was recently looking for a job. Since I received the newspaper, I happily forwarded it, complete with circles around jobs of interest for her. It wasn’t long before she landed the “perfect” job. You can also learn of job openings through family and friends and forward the information to someone in need of a job.

Don’t know anyone personally who needs a job? You can still make a difference. Each day make it a point to pray with your family that people searching for jobs will be matched with the right jobs in the classifieds and elsewhere. Pray that those employers searching for employees will find the ones who will be a perfect fit for their companies.

Up for Discussion

If you’re in the process of completing the second half of this activity, how do you know that your prayers are being answered? Why should you exercise persistence and not give up even if you don’t see any results? Why is praying for someone you don’t know just as important as praying for someone you do know? How might a stranger react to the fact that someone unknown is praying for him or her?

Discuss the astonishing way that ants work together as a team to accomplish goals. They work hard to build homes, carry food much bigger than themselves, and take care of the young ants. How could we humans learn a thing or two from ants? Discuss how your family as a team can help someone find a job.

Read Mark 1:14-20. As Jesus proclaimed the Good News, He found Simon and Andrew fishing in the Sea of Galilee. In Mark 1:17-18 we read, “‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will make you fishers of men.’ At once they left their nets and followed him.” Later, in verses 19-20, Jesus called to James and John to follow Him, and they, too, left without delay to follow their Savior. Jesus knew that these two men, among 10 others, would be His disciples. He knew the jobs they were to have for the Kingdom. Discuss how Jesus has a plan and a job for your life. How can you be sure you follow that plan?

But to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything.

—1 Tim. 6:17