Monday, May 6, 2013 [The Book of Ruth and the Power of Choice]
As I read through this book, one of the things that really hit home for me was the power of our choices. We don't often consider how the decisions that we make affect us, or the people around us. But, in actuality, they can be quite powerful – especially when we happen to make a decision that is in line with the will of God.
Looking a God's choices in this portion of history, I find myself scratching my head at first. Why Moab? These are the people that were born out of incest (Lot and his eldest daughter, Gen. 19:37); people who tried to curse Israel (King Balak, Num. 22:22-24); people who worshipped other gods and turned the hearts of Israel at one time (Num. 25:1-3). Of all of the people we might think to be a heroine in this piece of biblical history, most of us would not pick a Moabite woman – but, God did.
As God chose Ruth, Ruth chooses God (Yahweh), saying to Naomi, "Your people will be my people and your God my God" (Ruth 1:16). Her choice positions Naomi to be redeemed (all debts paid – all land purchased for her family's future) and positions Ruth in the lineage of Jesse, David, and Jesus
Boaz chooses Ruth and blesses her. "May the Lord repay you for you have done. May you be richly rewarded for by the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge'" (2:12; see also Psalm 91:4).
What seem to be simple choices – just a momentary decision in time – are worked out to be far greater in the hands of a Faithful God. May we always seek to make the choice that honors the Lord.
----
"Choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." (Joshua 24:15)
Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, "The LORD will surely separate me from his people"; and let not the eunuch say, "Behold, I am a dry tree." For thus says the LORD: "To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. (Is 56:3–5)
No comments:
Post a Comment