Life Lessons from the Book of RUTH

Ruth 1:18

When she saw that she was steadfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking to her.

The matter now had become settled in both their minds. There was peace. No more words needed to be said about it.

There is a lesson in this for us: it is important to make clear-cut decisions in our relationship with God and in our attitude towards sin and the things of the world. James 1:8 states, “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” Temptations and problems at school, at work, in the business and social world will be resolved a lot sooner if we come out with a clear-cut stand on our relationship with Christ and give our reasons for not partaking of harmful and sinful practices.

I have found that others may not agree with you or like you for it, but they will usually respect you.

A B Simpson had this in mind in the hymn “Launch Out,” when he said,

And others just venture away from the land

And linger so near to the shore

That the surf and the slime that beat over the strand

Dash o’er them in floods evermore

Why face the same old decisions over and over? You’ll have enough new ones.

Ruth’s decision was final and it brought peace because it was in God’s will.

Ruth 1:19-21

So they two went until they came to Bethlehem and it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, ‘Is this Naomi?’ And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty; why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?”

The distance to Bethlehem from the central region of Moab was about sixty miles, a three-day journey.

The people of Bethlehem were “moved.” We might say “shook up.” They hardly recognized her: ten years of time had brought changes, but beyond that, sorrow, poverty, widow’s garments and the weariness and dust of the road had taken their toll. They hardly recognized their old friend and neighbor.

She had borne up well under all of her afflictions, but now as she saw her old home and townspeople again, her situation hit her like a ton of bricks. “I’m not pleasant” (Naomi); “I’m bitter (Mara). As she thought of the happy times there in years gone by, she said, “I went out full;” the Lord brought me home again empty.”

In the emotion of the moment, she forgot a few things:

1. It was God who had given her her family and all they had in the first place
2. It was she and her husband who went out against God’s direction
3. Her affliction was the result of their own actions
4. She still had her life, her health and Ruth; and she was once again living in God’s will and among His people.

Ruth 1:22

So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.

Notice how often we are reminded that Ruth was a Moabitess. The writer doesn’t want us to forget it.

In those days, the barley harvest in that area began at the end of March (by our calendar).

Dear God, Please forgive me! I’ve made my own choices, and, like Naomi, have blamed You for the outcome. It’s easy to take the credit when it turns out good; not so easy when it turns out less than good. Open my eyes to see Your hand at work around me, and help me to learn to be grateful in all things. Thank You, God, for always being at work in my life. Thank You for Your patience. And thank You for never giving up on me (Philippians 1:6). Amen.