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Every day of our lives we assess complexity and the need for the appropriate time and resources to complete some tasks. When you get out of bed you have already considered most of the expected tasks for that day.

Another man worth considering in this regard is Daniel. He and his friends began life as part of the royal family of Judah (Dan 1:3-4).

There is a story about a small-town business owner whose clothing store was threatened with extinction. A national chain store had acquired all the properties on his block and had told him, “We’ll build all around you and put you out of business”.

How those words must have echoed around the court of Pharaoh and in the minds of his listeners. We see a proud monarch, clinging tenaciously to his own beliefs, having enslaved God’s people, yet determined to resist His Hand. The time had come for Israel’s deliverance, and such was the scene from which God would extract a people called after His Name.

Have you ever considered the power a word uttered can have on others? What effect the words we write by way of texts and emails can have on others?

Throughout the four gospels we frequently read of people following our Lord. Many followed out of a desperate need to be cured (Matt 4:24). Others followed him out of curiosity, purely to see miracles performed (John 6:2). Some sought him out for personal gain (John 6:26) and others sought to destroy him (John 5:16).