126 Ruth 4:13-17 Better than Seven Sons
JMD Devotional 126 Ruth 4:13-17 Better than Seven Sons
So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the Lord caused her to conceive, and she bore a son. And the women said to Naomi, Blessed be the Lord, Who has not left you this day without a close kinsman, and may his name be famous in Israel. And may he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher and supporter in your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him. Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her bosom and became his nurse. And her neighbor women gave him a name, saying, A son is born to Naomi. They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David [the ancestor of Jesus Christ].
Naomi experienced a significant loss when both of her sons died. They were her family, her ‘retirement’, her income and security, companionship and standing in the community. Famine had driven this family from Bethlehem to Moab, a foreign country for survival; in the course of time there her husband died, then she relied upon her sons, who married and sometime later they both died, relatively young. Resolved to return home, though empty-handed, she admonished her two daughter-in-laws to leave her and find other husbands, saying she could do nothing for them, that they would even be a burden. Oprah took her advice; but Ruth clung to Naomi.
Ruth 1:15-18 And Naomi said, See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law. And Ruth said, Urge me not to leave you or to turn back from following you; for where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts me from you. When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said no more.
Ruth saw that there was far more to her mother-in-law than immediate financial security. She took a leap of faith that there was a better national identity and a better God than she had known among her own people. You can’t have your old identity and a new one, your old gods and the God of Israel; in order to apprehend the new the former things must be sacrificed and left behind. In the end, that faith was mightily blessed; for through it Jesus Christ was incarnated on the earth.
Dear God,
Your ways are past knowing, so far above the thoughts of man. May your people be clear on whom they serve today, to whom they belong, of their debt to Christ Jesus. May we burn the bridges leading to reprobate living, idolatry and dead works; may turning back not be an option. Grease the fence of those trying to have the best of both worlds; may worthy souls fall forward by your grace. May your people be satisfied with nothing less then ‘the Bread of Heaven.’
Amen
All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by
the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
*New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)
If you know of someone who would like to subscribe to
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http://recoverydevotional.blogspot.com/
So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the Lord caused her to conceive, and she bore a son. And the women said to Naomi, Blessed be the Lord, Who has not left you this day without a close kinsman, and may his name be famous in Israel. And may he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher and supporter in your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him. Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her bosom and became his nurse. And her neighbor women gave him a name, saying, A son is born to Naomi. They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David [the ancestor of Jesus Christ].
Naomi experienced a significant loss when both of her sons died. They were her family, her ‘retirement’, her income and security, companionship and standing in the community. Famine had driven this family from Bethlehem to Moab, a foreign country for survival; in the course of time there her husband died, then she relied upon her sons, who married and sometime later they both died, relatively young. Resolved to return home, though empty-handed, she admonished her two daughter-in-laws to leave her and find other husbands, saying she could do nothing for them, that they would even be a burden. Oprah took her advice; but Ruth clung to Naomi.
Ruth 1:15-18 And Naomi said, See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law. And Ruth said, Urge me not to leave you or to turn back from following you; for where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts me from you. When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said no more.
Ruth saw that there was far more to her mother-in-law than immediate financial security. She took a leap of faith that there was a better national identity and a better God than she had known among her own people. You can’t have your old identity and a new one, your old gods and the God of Israel; in order to apprehend the new the former things must be sacrificed and left behind. In the end, that faith was mightily blessed; for through it Jesus Christ was incarnated on the earth.
Dear God,
Your ways are past knowing, so far above the thoughts of man. May your people be clear on whom they serve today, to whom they belong, of their debt to Christ Jesus. May we burn the bridges leading to reprobate living, idolatry and dead works; may turning back not be an option. Grease the fence of those trying to have the best of both worlds; may worthy souls fall forward by your grace. May your people be satisfied with nothing less then ‘the Bread of Heaven.’
Amen
All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by
the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
*New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)
If you know of someone who would like to subscribe to
my daily devotional, please forward.
jamesdinsmore_32907@yahoo.com
Short, concise, thought-provoking.
More features:
My Poetry
http://saintjamespoetry.blog.com/
(Some) of my Devotionals
http://recoverydevotional.blogspot.com/
posted by James M. Dinsmore at 4:06 PM
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