💐Single Gals Saturday💐
Ruth is one of my favorite books of the Bible. It’s very short. So short, even, that some of you may have always skipped right past it. But there is a cornucopia of Truths packed into those few little chapters. It is a story of love, integrity, loyalty, redemption, humility, and obedience.
Ruth was a young widowed Moabite woman, who chose to selflessly follow her embittered mother-in-law, Naomi, to Judah and live after her husband had died. She could have returned to her homeland, just as her sister, Orpah, chose to do. It would have been difficult, after losing her husband, to not want to just turn and high-tail it back to the place she’s always known, with her own mother and father. She could have left behind the uncertainty and difficulty of her current situation and returned to familiarity and comfort (ring any bells?) where she might have very well found a new husband, had children, and never looked back on Naomi.
It may have been easier. And we love easy, don’t we? But instead, she insisted on remaining loyal to Naomi, in one of the most beautiful and poetic passages in the Bible: In Ruth 1:16-17, we read:
“But Ruth replied: Don’t plead with me to abandon you or to return and not follow you. For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you live, I will live; your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me, and do so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.”
Ruth’s story is not one of glamour or fame, notoriety or power. She did not perform amazing feats or fight any great battles with startling bravery. Her actions were small moments. Moments when no one else was watching her, and yet she still chose to act with honor and integrity. She likely did not realize that her seemingly small choices would have any impact on anyone at all, let alone the entire world. And yet, because she was loyal to Naomi, faithfully followed her advice, and acted with obedience and humility, not only was her family redeemed by Boaz....She became his wife and bore a child that created the direct lineage from which Jesus our Savior was born! Because she was faithful in the small, menial, mundane tasks, an entire world was saved!
Maybe you have a past you’re not proud of. I know I do! Maybe you feel like you don’t matter or your actions don’t affect anyone but yourself. When no one else is watching, you may think, “it won’t make a difference if I do the right thing or not.” Take it from Ruth, YOUR ACTIONS DO MATTER! Just because you cannot see the results immediately, don’t think for one moment that God isn’t working out something through you. He intends to use you, right where you are, regardless of your circumstances. He isn’t waiting for you to be married to do His work! And neither should you.
Continue to do the right thing and to pursue God with everything within you. Even when it feels like nobody sees you, He does. And He will honor your faithfulness in ways that you could never imagine.
NOTE: I purposely chose not to summarize Ruth’s entire story. I urge you to read it, whether it be for the first time ever or again. As you read it, ask God to show you the areas in which He wants you to be more faithful. And ask yourself, “Am I a Ruth or am I an Orpah?”
Happy Saturday, Ladies!
Kim Thompson
Ruth is one of my favorite books of the Bible. It’s very short. So short, even, that some of you may have always skipped right past it. But there is a cornucopia of Truths packed into those few little chapters. It is a story of love, integrity, loyalty, redemption, humility, and obedience.
Ruth was a young widowed Moabite woman, who chose to selflessly follow her embittered mother-in-law, Naomi, to Judah and live after her husband had died. She could have returned to her homeland, just as her sister, Orpah, chose to do. It would have been difficult, after losing her husband, to not want to just turn and high-tail it back to the place she’s always known, with her own mother and father. She could have left behind the uncertainty and difficulty of her current situation and returned to familiarity and comfort (ring any bells?) where she might have very well found a new husband, had children, and never looked back on Naomi.
It may have been easier. And we love easy, don’t we? But instead, she insisted on remaining loyal to Naomi, in one of the most beautiful and poetic passages in the Bible: In Ruth 1:16-17, we read:
“But Ruth replied: Don’t plead with me to abandon you or to return and not follow you. For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you live, I will live; your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me, and do so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.”
Ruth’s story is not one of glamour or fame, notoriety or power. She did not perform amazing feats or fight any great battles with startling bravery. Her actions were small moments. Moments when no one else was watching her, and yet she still chose to act with honor and integrity. She likely did not realize that her seemingly small choices would have any impact on anyone at all, let alone the entire world. And yet, because she was loyal to Naomi, faithfully followed her advice, and acted with obedience and humility, not only was her family redeemed by Boaz....She became his wife and bore a child that created the direct lineage from which Jesus our Savior was born! Because she was faithful in the small, menial, mundane tasks, an entire world was saved!
Maybe you have a past you’re not proud of. I know I do! Maybe you feel like you don’t matter or your actions don’t affect anyone but yourself. When no one else is watching, you may think, “it won’t make a difference if I do the right thing or not.” Take it from Ruth, YOUR ACTIONS DO MATTER! Just because you cannot see the results immediately, don’t think for one moment that God isn’t working out something through you. He intends to use you, right where you are, regardless of your circumstances. He isn’t waiting for you to be married to do His work! And neither should you.
Continue to do the right thing and to pursue God with everything within you. Even when it feels like nobody sees you, He does. And He will honor your faithfulness in ways that you could never imagine.
NOTE: I purposely chose not to summarize Ruth’s entire story. I urge you to read it, whether it be for the first time ever or again. As you read it, ask God to show you the areas in which He wants you to be more faithful. And ask yourself, “Am I a Ruth or am I an Orpah?”
Happy Saturday, Ladies!
Kim Thompson
Comments
Post a Comment