Week 18 Day 5 Reaping What You Sow

Ruth 2

So here is Ruth.  She is hanging out in a strange country with people she doesn't really know.  The only person she does know is Naomi, the mother of her now deceased husband.

I think Ruth has plenty of reason to sit around and sulk. 

Her husband has died.  She has left the family and friends she knows. And she is living with her mother-in-law in a strange land.

But Ruth doesn't sulk.

She picks herself up, dusts off her skirts, and heads out into the field to pick up grain that is left behind after the workers gather/cut the wheat in the fields.

She works tirelessly.

Not just for herself but for her mother-in-law too.

And it doesn't go unnoticed.

The owner of the field notices her.

He inquires about her.

And he immediately becomes protective of her.

Boaz, who is in fact related to Naomi, tells the workers to leave Ruth alone.  He assures Ruth she is welcome to gather grain in his fields and that nobody will be bothering her.  He even asks the workers to leave a little extra grain behind for Ruth.

You see, he has noticed.

He knows and has heard about Ruth's kindness toward her mother-in-law.

In turn, he returns the favor to Ruth with his generosity.

Hmmmm...

I think something is brewing in the fields...

Tomorrow's reading:

Ruth 3.

Reba

I Will Follow You...

Week 18 Days 3 and 4
Intro (in my Bible) and Ruth 1

I actually read this a couple days ago but our life has been a bit topsy turvy this week.

Finally, I get a reprieve from war.

True, the chapter (and book) opens with  deaths.  Three of them.  Naomi lost her husband, then her two sons.

Not back to back, but still, that is a lot of loss in a ten year period.

My heart hurt for her.

So now Naomi is alone.  And not only alone, but she is living in a land (Moab) that is not hers.

So she decides to go home.

Isn't that what we all want to do when things are rough?  Go home.

Naomi wanted to go back to Judah.

At first, the two daughter in law, who I am sure were still mourning, followed Naomi.

I mean, they had a great sense of loss too.

And this was the one connection they had to their late husband's family.

It isn't like they had e-mail to catch up with one another once Naomi left.

This was it.

Naomi insisted that the girls return to their own homes. They were young.  They still had a life left.

I would like to think (and in my mind it is) it was an unselfish act.

They all wept.

Then Orpah kissed her mother in law and returned home.

But Ruth remained.

I have always wondered...was Naomi secretly pleased she still had a companion to travel with? Or did she just want to be alone which would certainly be understandable in these circumstances?  I don't know.

But it didn't matter.

Ruth was not going anywhere.

She was staying.

One of my favorite verses (that makes me think of the song) is Ruth 1:16.

But Ruth said, "Do not urge me to leave you or 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.

Sidenote:  I really wanted to have the video link to Chris Tomlin's video "I Will Follow" that always makes me think of this verse, but it is not cooperating. :(

Anywho...

Ruth and Naomi travel on back to Bethlehem.

But the story isn't quite over then.

Naomi's friends are happy to see her.  But Naomi is still mourning.  She isn't just a sad mourning.  She feels bitter.  She even asks her friends to call her "Mara" which means bitter.  She felt the Lord had dealt bitterly with her and brought her back empty.

What strikes me about this is that we have all felt like that at some point in our lives.

And I don't know about you but when I feel that way, I feel guilty.

Guess what?

God did not strike Naomi/Mara down for feeling that way.

In fact, she was still to become part of a greater story.

Not that we should go through life in a state of bitterness.

But I just have to believe (based on this and other stories) that God understands.  And He loves us still.

Tomorrow:  Ruth 2

Reba

Week 18 Day 2 Deja Vu...All Over Again

Yes, I know.

M.I.A. once again.

The worst part is that I have read this passage a few times now.

I just had trouble getting myself to post about it.

The war stuff, the killing stuff.  It just makes my stomach turn.

I keep reminding myself if I will just finish this up, I can be in the book of Ruth which is not quite as gory of a book.

Blech.

Anyway, since it is summer, I have no excuse. I have more time to do stuff like blogging (though I never seem to have trouble blogging recipes...).

So I will try once again to get back in this routine.

I really will try.

Sigh.

Anyway, I have just read this passage (Judges 19-21) for the THIRD time.

And honestly, I still cannot bring myself to say much about it.

It made my stomach turn just as much now as it did before.

I know that the Bible is God's Word.  So there is a reason this story is in the Bible.

But that doesn't mean I have to enjoy reading it, right?

The whole time I was reading it, I was thinking about Sodom and Gomorrah.

I think the last sentence sums up all three chapters here.

From verse 25 of Chapter 21...

In those days Israel did not have a king.  Everyone did what seemed right.

And if you are brave enough to read these three chapters, you will see just how very true that is.

Blech.

Tomorrow's reading:  Ruth 1

Reba