Last week began a journey from Bethlehem to Moab, back to Bethlehem, and everywhere in between. We opened up the book of Ruth and studied truth deeply. We wrung out each verse and pointed them back to Christ and the marvelous Gospel of grace. I don’t know about you, but in some ways I felt overwhelmed.
Overwhelmed at God’s sweet graces He lays upon our heads each day. We are so underserving of such grace. Ruth and Noami both experienced great loss. Naomi responded in bitterness to her losses and Ruth with salvation and following God. Amazing how different their responses could be? And yet, in both of them, God is working for His glory. Here is a brief review of what we learned:

• Elimilech – He chose to leave the land of God’s faithfulness to go to a land full of idols. The grass is not always greener on the other side, though. He ended up perishing while living in this foreign land, along with his two sons.
• Naomi – She came to the land of Moab with her husband and sons and would be left with two Moabite daughters in law. Her losses built a wall around her vision and she no longer could see God’s faithfulness. Bitterness choked her joy.
• Ruth – Faithful, servant-hearted, and trustworthy – She chose to follow Naomi and Noami’s God and leave her land of idols. Her faithfulness and salvation would be a part of the bigger picture of redemption.

Through the lives of Elimilech, Naomi, and Ruth, we can learn incredible truths for our own lives:

• The Gospel is not limited. God extended His grace to Ruth, a foreigner. During this time, Israelites did not have anything to do with Moabites. And yet, Ruth commits her life to follow Yahweh, the One, True God (Ruth 1:16).
• Faithfulness breeds faithfulness. Our faithfulness to God and to each other affects our circumstances. Ruth watched Naomi serve God faithfully and became a follow of God because of her faith. In return, Ruth was faithful to Naomi. Our faithfulness to others is contagious!
• Even when the rain doesn’t fall, God is still God. We often allow our circumstances in life to affect what we believe about God. Elimilech led his family to a foreign land and took matters into his own hands. He eventually lost his life due to this act of disobedience. Even when life seems contrary to what is good in our mind, we must trust that God is still God and He is forever faithful.
  

love,

Gretchen