Sunday, July 28, 2024
Ruth 2:10-12
10
Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him,
Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me,
seeing I am a stranger?
11
And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shewed me, all that
thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how
thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art
come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore.
12
The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the
Lord God of Israel, under
whose wings thou art come to trust.
Ruth’s
past was tragic! She, being a Moabitess, married a Jewish man
who died leaving her in widowhood. The same circumstance gripped her
sister-in-law and her mother-in-law. Both decided to return home, which forced
Ruth to make a life changing decision. Should she return to her former life in
Moab or follow her mother-in-law to Israel? Her choice made all the difference.
Many
of us have tragedy and pain in our past.
Often the events of life present us with life-changing
choices. It is at these times we must avoid the temptation to sink into self-pity.
Like Ruth, we must choose the path of trust and place ourselves under
the wings of God. The choice seems easy when we read the story because we
already know the outcome, but it is not so easy when the outcome is uncertain.
The
long journey to Bethlehem with Naomi was filled with danger and
uncertainty but Bethlehem was filled with wonderful “coincidences” that made
Ruth the great-grandmother of Jesus!
As the hymn writer put it:
Well
of water ever springing,
Bread
of life so rich and free,
Untold
wealth that never faileth,
My
Redeemer is to me.
Hallelujah!
I have found Him
Whom
my soul so long has craved!
Jesus
satisfies my longings,
Through
His blood I now am saved.
(Clara
T. Williams)
Dear
Lord, who catches our tears in your bottle, recompense us who have fled for
refuge under your wings. AMEN
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