Ruth 1-4 (Yes, this is an entire book of the Bible.)
It's a good one, though. Read carefully so we can talk about it at www.bible.com, or with the BIBLE READER to the left of this post. Or, if you have your Bible with you of course, then by all means. Read Ruth there, if you wish.
So, let's talk about Ruth. The book, I mean. It's short and simple, but there are SO many messages, there are almost too many to count. I'll do my best.
There was this lady named Naomi. She was married, with two sons who also got married. On of her daughter-in-laws was named Orpah, and the other (you guessed it,) Ruth. Over time, Naomi's husband died, and soon after, both of her sons died. She was left with Orpah and Ruth... but she decided to be humble and let them go back to their real families. She was all "I'm worthless. You girls deserve to marry, and since mt sons are no longer alive, we have no connection. Please, don't let me be a burden. Go back to your families, and leave me."
Both the girls wept aloud, and were really sad, obviously. Orpah left Naomi, but Ruth decided to stay. She pledged her allegiance to Naomi, and basically told her whatever Naomi wanted to do, wherever she wanted to go, Ruth would too. Talk about dedication.
Anyway, Naomi should have been thrilled she'd be in good company, but she was still depressed about losing her family. Which by the way, is normal. Throughout today's devotion, try and relate this to some situation in your life.
So Naomi was still bitter, and refused to be called Naomi, giving herself another name that was of less worth. She was pretty depressed. She didn't really see the light in the situation, that there was a lovely girl that loved her and cared for her.
Ruth wanted to get a job threshing wheat (for a reason that's really unknown to me,) and so she asked Naomi if she could, and Naomi agreed. (I don't know for sure, but Ruth was probably still nervous for Naomi, worried about her.) But she took the job thing, and she was working with other women, at a field that belonged to one of Naomi's relatives named Boaz.
Boaz took a liking to Ruth, just like in all the movies. He was all "Hey, who's the new girl?" and went and talked to her. When I was reading, I was thinking that it was going to be true love, and her happiness would spill over to Naomi. But there was a little twist at the end.
Ruth told Naomi about Boaz, and Naomi was finally shaping up. She told Ruth to go for it, and she did. They ended up getting married. Happy happy?
Not quite. Boaz had this meeting with a bunch of his adult friends, calling them witnesses. He said that he was going to purchase the land the Naomi lived on, and marry Ruth just so he can carry out his families name.
The Bible doesn't exactly state whether or not they were madly in love or not, so I might be wrong. But I definitely think times have changed from today. Boaz might of married Ruth just to carry out his name throughout the land. I guess that was normal back then, though.
It isn't very normal today, (except for in cheesy soap-operas.)
So, what message could there POSSIBLY be in this crazy story? Everyone translates it differently, but I think it might have a little something to do with the people that you need in your life.
Naomi obviously loved her family a lot. And, when they were taken away from her, everything changed. That happens to a lot of people, not only with deaths, but with misfortunes. It seems as if the world is against you, and you don't really have anything going for you.
However... I think most of us are so caught up in the problem that we don't see what's going well, and what we have. In the thick of the moment, you can't see anything clearly. But once you've got your heasd on straight, you start to see that things aren't so bad after all.
Of course, it's normal to feel upset about things. It'd be weird if you never got upset. It's just in our nature, it's in our genes. Humans have feelings. But we have SO much more. It's normal to be sad, but to a certain extent. Everyone reacts to change differently, but with an AWESOME God on our shoulders, we shouldn't dwell on something for too long.
The next time you encounter a bad situation, think about it. Not just when it's over, or when you're looking back at it... think about it when you're in the rough. When all else seems to be falling apart, take a second, take a breath. You have a promise that will never be broken. God keeps all his promises, and that's what we've been talking about. That's what I've been trying to get at throughout this crazy blog process.
God loves you. Reading the Bible can better reassure you of this, and might help you realize some things about how wonderfully gracious our God really is. But in reality, you can't just ignore him throughout that day, and settle by reading this blog at the end of everything.
I'm thankful for everyone reading this, and for everyone who has, and for everyone who eventually will read. But it means nothing to me if you don't get anything out of the reading.
I'm glad you take time to check out the site. I'm glad you tell people. But I can't change your mind for you. The next time you get into a sticky situation, I can't be there whispering "What Would Jesus Do?" into your ear. Just try and at least make an effort to take the message and make it pertain to your life.
Alright. Enough venting. Today's message?
Be thankful for all you have, even when it's hard to see.
Go in peace.
It's a good one, though. Read carefully so we can talk about it at www.bible.com, or with the BIBLE READER to the left of this post. Or, if you have your Bible with you of course, then by all means. Read Ruth there, if you wish.
So, let's talk about Ruth. The book, I mean. It's short and simple, but there are SO many messages, there are almost too many to count. I'll do my best.
There was this lady named Naomi. She was married, with two sons who also got married. On of her daughter-in-laws was named Orpah, and the other (you guessed it,) Ruth. Over time, Naomi's husband died, and soon after, both of her sons died. She was left with Orpah and Ruth... but she decided to be humble and let them go back to their real families. She was all "I'm worthless. You girls deserve to marry, and since mt sons are no longer alive, we have no connection. Please, don't let me be a burden. Go back to your families, and leave me."
Both the girls wept aloud, and were really sad, obviously. Orpah left Naomi, but Ruth decided to stay. She pledged her allegiance to Naomi, and basically told her whatever Naomi wanted to do, wherever she wanted to go, Ruth would too. Talk about dedication.
Anyway, Naomi should have been thrilled she'd be in good company, but she was still depressed about losing her family. Which by the way, is normal. Throughout today's devotion, try and relate this to some situation in your life.
So Naomi was still bitter, and refused to be called Naomi, giving herself another name that was of less worth. She was pretty depressed. She didn't really see the light in the situation, that there was a lovely girl that loved her and cared for her.
Ruth wanted to get a job threshing wheat (for a reason that's really unknown to me,) and so she asked Naomi if she could, and Naomi agreed. (I don't know for sure, but Ruth was probably still nervous for Naomi, worried about her.) But she took the job thing, and she was working with other women, at a field that belonged to one of Naomi's relatives named Boaz.
Boaz took a liking to Ruth, just like in all the movies. He was all "Hey, who's the new girl?" and went and talked to her. When I was reading, I was thinking that it was going to be true love, and her happiness would spill over to Naomi. But there was a little twist at the end.
Ruth told Naomi about Boaz, and Naomi was finally shaping up. She told Ruth to go for it, and she did. They ended up getting married. Happy happy?
Not quite. Boaz had this meeting with a bunch of his adult friends, calling them witnesses. He said that he was going to purchase the land the Naomi lived on, and marry Ruth just so he can carry out his families name.
The Bible doesn't exactly state whether or not they were madly in love or not, so I might be wrong. But I definitely think times have changed from today. Boaz might of married Ruth just to carry out his name throughout the land. I guess that was normal back then, though.
It isn't very normal today, (except for in cheesy soap-operas.)
So, what message could there POSSIBLY be in this crazy story? Everyone translates it differently, but I think it might have a little something to do with the people that you need in your life.
Naomi obviously loved her family a lot. And, when they were taken away from her, everything changed. That happens to a lot of people, not only with deaths, but with misfortunes. It seems as if the world is against you, and you don't really have anything going for you.
However... I think most of us are so caught up in the problem that we don't see what's going well, and what we have. In the thick of the moment, you can't see anything clearly. But once you've got your heasd on straight, you start to see that things aren't so bad after all.
Of course, it's normal to feel upset about things. It'd be weird if you never got upset. It's just in our nature, it's in our genes. Humans have feelings. But we have SO much more. It's normal to be sad, but to a certain extent. Everyone reacts to change differently, but with an AWESOME God on our shoulders, we shouldn't dwell on something for too long.
The next time you encounter a bad situation, think about it. Not just when it's over, or when you're looking back at it... think about it when you're in the rough. When all else seems to be falling apart, take a second, take a breath. You have a promise that will never be broken. God keeps all his promises, and that's what we've been talking about. That's what I've been trying to get at throughout this crazy blog process.
God loves you. Reading the Bible can better reassure you of this, and might help you realize some things about how wonderfully gracious our God really is. But in reality, you can't just ignore him throughout that day, and settle by reading this blog at the end of everything.
I'm thankful for everyone reading this, and for everyone who has, and for everyone who eventually will read. But it means nothing to me if you don't get anything out of the reading.
I'm glad you take time to check out the site. I'm glad you tell people. But I can't change your mind for you. The next time you get into a sticky situation, I can't be there whispering "What Would Jesus Do?" into your ear. Just try and at least make an effort to take the message and make it pertain to your life.
Alright. Enough venting. Today's message?
Be thankful for all you have, even when it's hard to see.
Go in peace.
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