YOUR LIFE IS IMPORTANT
Opening Prayer
Lord, I entrust my path to You.
Read RUTH 1:1–18
Naomi Loses Her Husband and Sons
1 In the days when the judges ruled,[a] there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. 2 The man’s name was Elimelek, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.
3 Now Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.
Naomi and Ruth Return to Bethlehem
6 When Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. 7 With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.
8 Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the Lord show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me. 9 May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.”
Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept aloud 10 and said to her, “We will go back with you to your people.”
11 But Naomi said, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? 12 Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me—even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons— 13 would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord’s hand has turned against me!”
14 At this they wept aloud again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.
15 “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.”
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.
Footnotes
- Ruth 1:1 Traditionally judged
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
‘Who am I, Lord, that you are mindful of me, that you should care for me?’ (see Ps 8:4)
Think Further
The Book of Ruth begins with an obscure family, from an obscure village in Judah (Mic 5:2), abandoning their homeland during desperate circumstances and binding themselves by marriage to Israel’s former enemy, Moab (Judg 3:12–14; Deut 23:2–7). Many Israelites probably made similar journeys and similar choices and we know nothing about them. Tragically, it looks like Elimelek’s family line will fail when he and his sons die. Naomi is left with her daughters-in-law, but Naomi is painfully conscious that they cannot restore to each other what they have lost. Their family lineage and fortunes are restored, however, because of the faith and choices of a foreigner, a Moabite woman. Ruth has a beautiful sense of courage and principle. She has a remarkable capacity for self-denying love in difficult circumstances. She chooses the risky road with Naomi when Orpah, with broken heart, turns back to the protection of her Moabite family. Ruth is an honorable woman, someone after God’s own heart, as her great-grandson David is described (1 Sam 13:14). Yet Ruth has no idea when she chooses to follow Naomi and Naomi’s God that she will participate in the most amazing story ever told, or that she will be respected and honored thousands of years after her death.
Most of us live in relative obscurity our whole lives. We are not destined to be famous even in our own lifetimes! Sometimes we feel that our lives are not very meaningful. Our hopes, dreams, fears, struggles, choices, temptations, doubts, and faith seem of little consequence. Ruth’s story, however, shows how our lives are of consequence to God. It is absolutely thrilling and humbling to know that our lives are not obscure to Him. Our choices, even the seemingly unimportant ones, can be meaningful in the kingdom of God (Col 3:17; 1 Cor 15:58).
Apply
‘Every day of my life was recorded in Your book … How precious are Your thoughts about me, O God.’ (Ps 139:16,17, NLT) Your life is precious to God! Reflect on this.
Closing prayer
Lord, unfold to me Your plan for my life as I continue to walk with You step by step.
Book and Author Intros
Extras
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