OCTOBER 13, 2023
RUTH 1:14-16
And again they wept together, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law
good-bye. But Ruth clung tightly to Naomi. 15“Look,” Naomi said to her, “your
sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. You should do the
same.”
16But Ruth replied, “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn
back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people
will be my people, and your God will be my God.
We close our week of Devotions as we meditate upon the life
of a young woman who lost her future, and the way God rebuilt her life.
There was a woman named Naomi, from Bethlehem. Due to a famine,
she, and her family, relocated to a nearby country, called Moab. Years later,
Naomi’s husband died, and her two sons married Moabite women. We are told that Naomi’s
sons also died, and she was left with her two daughters-in-law in a country
that was foreign and unfamiliar to her.
Naomi faced many hardships, and she eventually set her
sights on a return to her hometown, Bethlehem. One of the young widows, Ruth,
chose to go with her mother-in-law. Naomi tried to deter her, but Ruth refused
to stay in Moab, saying to her Mother-in-law, “Wherever you go, I will go”. What Ruth didn’t know was that God had a plan
to rebuild both of their lives in Bethlehem.
Ruth went to find food for herself and Naomi and went out to
glean heads of grain after the harvesters had finished. There was a practice to
leave the spilled grains on the field for the poor to gather after the reaping
was concluded, as Leviticus 23:22 had commanded. Gleaning the spilled grain may
sound easy, but actually it was very difficult work.
Ruth happened to gather grains in fields that belonged to a
man named Boaz. Boaz was a distant relative of Naomi. He is described as a
righteous wealthy man. Ruth found favor with Boaz and received support and
kindness from him. Ruth obeyed the instructions of her mother-in-law, became
the wife of Boaz and they were blessed with a son. Later in chapter 4 we read “The
women of Bethlehem praised the Lord that Naomi was restored through Ruth and
Boaz’s son Obed (Ruth 4:14-15). Here is a neat genealogical detail worth
underlining, Obed was the father of Jesse who was the father of King David.
Ruth did not know that one day she would be the great
grandmother of King David and be an important person in the genealogy of Jesus
Christ.
Ruth’s story has many faith lessons but today I would like
us to notice this lesson. When we continue to do the right things even in the
times of difficulties, God will bless and use us in his great plan as he did
Ruth. Ruth was a Moabite, an unlikely figure to show up in the Messiah’s
lineage. But what Ruth did, in a hard and difficult circumstance was to announce
to her Mother-in-law Naomi, “Wherever
you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my
people, and your God will be my God.” With that promise lived out, in obedience
and kindness, Ruth was pleasing in the sight of God.
Please know this, you may have planned good things for your
life, and right now it may feel so “off track” but God has plans for you, and
like Ruth, who knows but that generations to come will be blessed through your obedience
to “let go and let God have his way” in your life, even in the hardest of
experiences.
LET US PRAY
Lord, I bow before You in humble submission and pray that in
Your mercy and kindness You would help me to simply let go of all the fears and
worries, problems and doubts, guilt and disappointments that seem to be filling
my heart and mind each day.
Fill my hurting soul with Your love and peace I pray. Fill
the emptiness and pain that is tearing my life apart. Lord, you know what is in
my heart and why I am going through this time of fear and worry. Help me Lord,
to take every thought captive, to hand it over to You as it rears up in my mind
and help me to replace it with thoughts and words of Scripture that tell of
Your great might and wonderful power to rebuild my life.
Amen.
Author Unknown
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