Getting started again in class!
Feeling alone, desperate, and bitterly sad: this is how we find Naomi near the beginning of the book of Ruth. Naomi had left her home country with her husband and two sons when a famine overtook Israel. Now, her husband and two sons had passed and she remained in that foreign country called Moab. She knew all too well the condition of widows without sons in that time. She would have no way of providing for herself and her only hope would be to live off of the good graces of those around her.
Enter Ruth, Naomi’s Moabite daughter-in-law. Naomi had already made up her mind. She was going to tell her two daughter-in-laws to leave her and start over with new husbands. After all, they were still young and didn’t have to subject themselves to a life of poverty and misery. Ruth didn’t see things that way, though. She took a huge leap of faith when, knowing the difficulties
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she would face as a widowed foreigner in Israel, she refused to leave her hurting mother-in-law. She claimed that the God of Israel was her God and left for Israel.
For those of us who know the end of the story, we know that this step of incredible faith on Ruth’s part was completely worth it. She met and eventually married a wonderful man named Boaz and lived happily ever after. Even more amazing, Ruth became an ancestor of Jesus Christ!
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Opportunities similar to the one presented to Ruth will face us during this coming year and the ones to follow. No, I don’t mean that we will have to choose between living in the U.S. or in a foreign country with our mother-in-laws. (For some people, living with a mother-in-law would be a step of faith!) I mean that we all face choices in which there is a safe option and a great option.
Naomi’s other daughter-in-law was faced with the same choice as Ruth. She chose the safe option, which no one could blame her for, right? Had Ruth followed suit, she would have also landed the safe option. We who know the end of the story, however, know that Ruth would have missed something great by playing it safe. She would have missed out on being part of God’s amazing plan to bring to world to redemption through Jesus Christ.
When God asks us to do things, things that make us feel uncomfortable and unsafe, like sharing the Gospel with people we know and meet, we have those same options: the safe option and the great option. If we choose to follow Christ wholeheartedly by mentioning that we believe God has a plan for our lives, praying for people who share their problems with us, and even telling what Jesus did on the cross, we choose that great option. We get to be part of something great- the Great Commission and God’s plan for others to come to know Him for His glory! After all, we do know the end of the story: Jesus will ultimately come back to earth and those who know and follow Him will live with Him forever. Choosing the safe option of ignoring God’s promptings in our hearts to share His Gospel means that we miss out on being part of bringing lost people into His Kingdom and giving Him glory!
Conexion 10/40 wants to choose the great option, to be part of sending the Good News to people that have never heard. This year, pray how you can help us in that endeavor. Don’t just play it safe. Choose to obey Him in fulfilling the Great Commission!
Loving Jesus,
Mary
Website: www.conexion1040.org
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January 6, 2012 at 5:11 pm |
Great Post, Mary!