• This topic is closed. To post a message to Site Forum, go here.
The Book of Ruth, this four chapter book is one of the classics of world literature. This is a story about loyalty, redemption, unconditional love, a true story about the human condition and its deepest aspirations. May you enjoy the beauty of this book of the Old Testament!
God bless you.
Hello:
Book of Ruth Challenge – Day 1 – Ruth 1 (Please click on the blue links to be directed to the Readings)
16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” 18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her. (Ruth 16:16-18)
Deep inside of us, even when the statistics tell us the contrary, we stay hopeful about the vow of “till death tears us apart,” because those words resonate to our deepest need, to be loved and to be loved unconditionally. We read and re-read verses 16 and 17 in disbelief. Can someone loves someone so fiercely? Isn’t it true that death is the great separator? Because of Ruth’s love for her mother-in-law, Naomi, she went beyond the natural to the mystical, “May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” This kind of love is God’s kind of love.
We all want to be loved as Ruth loved Naomi. The good news is that God is already loving us that way, all we need is to accept that love.
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[k] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.( Romans 8:37-39)
May the Lord richly bless you!
Hello:
Book of Ruth Challenge – Day 1 – Ruth 2 (Please click on the blue links to be directed to the Readings)
14 At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar.”
When she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some roasted grain. She ate all she wanted and had some left over. 15 As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, “Let her gather among the sheaves and don’t reprimand her. 16 Even pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke her.”
17 So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah.[a] 18 She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over after she had eaten enough. (Ruth 2:14-18)
Contrary to what a lot of Christians may think, God is neither Democrat nor Republican. The background of this history, the gleaning law, shows us God as a compassionate and caring provider for the poor of society. "'When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the LORD your God (Leviticus 23:22).'"
Love always exceeds the law. Boaz’ love and compassion for Ruth allowed him to go beyond the letter of the law to enter the realm of unbridled generosity. “Let her gather among the sheaves and don’t reprimand her. Even pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke her (v. 15-16).” The law puts the poor at the edge of the field, love places her at the center of the field.
The love of God has a way to pull us in. Through the person of Jesus Christ, God showers us with grace, his unmerited favor. Grace allowed Ruth to accomplish in a few hours what should have taken her days to accomplish. It is the same for each one of us when we encounter God’s grace.
May the Lord richly bless you!
Hello:
Book of Ruth Challenge – Day 19 – Ruth 3 (Please click on the blue links to be directed to the Readings)
One day Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, I must find a home[a] for you, where you will be well provided for. 2 Now Boaz, with whose women you have worked, is a relative of ours. Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. 3 Wash, put on perfume, and get dressed in your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do.”
5 “I will do whatever you say,” Ruth answered. 6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law told her to do. (Ruth 3:1:6)
We listen in amazement to Naomi and Ruth’s planning and strategizing about how to get Boaz. These two godly women were way ahead of their time. In a patriarchal culture like theirs, they were very bold and confident to make the first move. Less resourceful women would have just resigned themselves to their situation. Not those two. They used both their hearts and their heads to get ahead.
Christians cannot be too spiritual that they forget that they are still living on planet earth. I am sure that Naomi prayed about her situation and Ruth’s situation, but prayer without action often times bring no realization. Our action can be the proof of our faith. We are expected to make our move after we have called on the name of the Lord (Jeremiah 29:12).
We should not feel ashamed to be real with the Lord. God wants to be involved in every facet of our lives. Spiritual problems, financial problems, sentimental problems, girlfriend problems, boyfriend problems, wife problems, husband problems - you name it - we can bring them all to the Lord, he is willing to help us. He is the great matchmaker.
May the Lord richly bless you!
Hello:
Book of Ruth Challenge – Day 20 – Ruth 4 (Please click on the blue links to be directed to the Readings)
13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. 14 Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! 15 He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” 16 Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. 17 And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. (Ruth 4:13-17)
And they live happily ever after! This is how fairy tales stories end, but we know this is not how real human relationships unfold. Boaz and Ruth must have had their own problems, but surely they overcame them with love, compassion and the blessings of the Lord.
Just like Naomi, Ruth and Boaz, in order for us to succeed in life we need a solid network of family and friends to support us and to call on us the blessings of the Lord. In this chapter alone there are two prayers of blessings by the people on the lives of Boaz, Ruth and Naomi (v. 11, 14-15). Surprisingly enough both prayers were answered beyond expectation. Do you pronounce God’s blessings on the lives of your loved ones and on your local church family?
Naomi, Ruth and Boaz had no way to know how they fit into the cosmic plan of God, but their faithfulness allowed them to be part of the genealogy of the Lord Jesus, the Savior of the world (Matthew 1). In spite of difficult situations we may be facing, let’s us remember that God’s plans for our lives are “plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11-13).”
May the Lord richly bless you!
You must first create an account to post.