Risk Everything for God and His People

There are very few people who will argue the fact that the story of Ruth is one of the greatest love stories in all of the Bible.  As we are told in Ruth, chapter 1, Ruth is a Moabite who marries one of the sons of Naomi.  When all the menfolk in Naomi’s life die, she makes arrangements to return to her homeland, to the city of Bethlehem.  Preparing to depart, she tries to convince her daughters-in-law to return to the house of their mothers and stay there in Moab.  After much weeping, Orpah agrees to do so, but Ruth refuses, saying, “Wherever you go, I go” (Ruth 1:16a KJV).

In today’s world of super-sonic travel, transient families, and limited extended family connections, it may be difficult to understand the degree of sacrifice Ruth was making.  She was going to a strange city in a strange land where she knew but one person – - Naomi.  Yet, she risked her life, both socially and physically, to take care of Naomi – - one of God’s people.

I’m sure you know the rest of the story.  Ruth meets, and eventually marries, Boaz, who is described as “a man of great wealth.”  More importantly, we are told that, “Boaz begot Obed. Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David.”  Due to her dedication to Naomi, Ruth becomes part of the lineage of Jesus! 

Click here, to learn more about the product.

Click here, to learn more about the article.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Stay Alert to Self-diminishing Compromises

Image
I believe that when most of us think about Daniel our mind and memory immediately go to him and the Lion’s Den!  Yet, there is so much more about Daniel that we need to know!  In fact, the story that first introduces him to us is one that allows us to see how Daniel was able to  Stay Alert to Self-diminishing Compromises . Daniel 1:1-20 tells us that he was taken captive from his homeland and wound up in the court of King Nebuchadnezzar.  While there, he and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, along with the other young men who were taken, were to be fed the king’s delicacies preparatory to serving in the king’s palace.  You, I am sure, remember that they choose to eat veggies and water instead and, when they were examined, were in as good, if not better, health than those who had chosen to eat what the king provided. Daniel and his three friends recognized that eating the delicacies would have been detrimental in the long run, making it beneficial that they were ab...
Read more

Stay Spiritually Connected and Directed

Image
I was talking with a good friend one day and he said, “You know, I struggle with making sure I am doing God things and not just good things.”  I nodded that I understood, but, since then, I have pondered that statement a lot.  Since it is accepted that “Christian” means to be “Christ like,” it is important to see if Christ did differentiate between the two to help us determine if we should  Stay Spiritually Connected and Directed . In Mark 1:29-39, we find that Jesus does make this distinction and that He did, in fact,  Stay Spiritually Connected and Directed .  After raising Peter’s mother-in-law from a bad fever and healing a host of others and casting out demons, Jesus retires for the evening.  Rising before daylight the next morning, He goes off to pray.  When His disciples come and tell Him that folks are looking for Him, he advises them that they need to go to other towns in the area for,  “this is the purpose I have come forth.” We all know...
Read more

Believe That with God All Things are Possible

Image
What does it take to make you believe something?  Do you have friends who, if they tell you what they saw, you would believe them, or do you have to see it for yourself?  If a friend had proven themselves over and over to you, would you believe them when they tell you they are going to do something spectacular?  These are the issues that are discussed in John 20:24-31 – the story of Doubting Thomas! As you undoubtedly recall, Jesus appeared to a number of the disciples.  Thomas, however, was not one of them.  When the others told Thomas that they had  “seen the Lord,”  he responded by saying,  “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”   A week or so later Thomas was with the disciples when Jesus came to them again, and He told Thomas to reach out his finger and hand and get the proof he had earlier demanded. The key here is that Th...
Read more