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Devotional
Weekly Bible Devotion By Books
Feb 20-25, 2023
Enter the Presence of the Lord (based on Psalm 130: 5-7)
(All) I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
(M) And in his word I hope.
(W) O Israel, hope in the Lord!
(M) For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
(W) And with him is plentiful redemption.
(All) My soul waits for the Lord.
Confession:
As the deer panths for the water, so my soul thirst for you, the Living God and my Savior. I need your water of life and bread of life. I look up to you. Amen.
Scripture Reading : Ruth 1: 16-17; 4: 14-17; 1 Corinthians 13:13b
Ruth 1: 16-17 But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.”
4: 14:14-17 The women said to Naomi: “Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! 15 He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.”16 Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. 17 The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
1 Corinthians 13:13b … but the greatest is love.
Thoughts to share Love is….
An undocumented famine in the Promised Land put people into a very difficult situation. Naomi followed her husband with their two sons to migrate to the neighboring foreign country Moab to seek for the better life. They lived there for 10 years. In 10 years, her two sons married. Then her husband and then two sons died one after another. She terribly grieved not only for these losses but also for the loss of entire family line. She never thought that she would become so empty in that plentiful land. How sad was it for her! “Go home” was the only way she could think. She survived with two Moabite daughters-in-law. She did not see reasonable purpose to let them stay with her for a life so hopeless and sorrowful. She did not see how her home country would accept these foreign Moabite ladies. So, she planned to go back to her home country alone. She told two daughters-in-law to go away to find their fortunes. One accepted the proposal. The other chose to stay with her. That was Ruth.
What motivated Ruth to stay with Naomi? Maybe that was her love for her deceased husband. Maybe it was her love for that country and that God she had heard from her husband. Maybe it was too hard to see Naomi’s heavy grief and to leave alone. We really cannot be sure. Anyway, she decided to take up the responsibilities of taking care of her mother-in-law and to embrace her people and her God to her death. She journeyed with Naomi across the River of Arnon and River of Jordan to a new country that she probably heard but never was there. They did not know what to expect in the future. But for sure going home was a comforting thought to Naomi. Ruth might be anxious a bit about it. They knew that they would start over on everything. It would be a new beginning anyway.
Once they got back to Naomi’s homeland. Naomi was busy with responding to the catchups and questions from the old relatives, friends and neighbors. Ruth was busy in making a living to provide daily needs. Ruth humbly and diligently adjusted herself to the new people, new social fabrics, and new life demands. God watched Naomi. God watched Ruth. God watched their daily needs. God watches their future. His guiding and blessing hands worked through everyday life contexts, relations, and basic needs. Gradually, Naomi and Ruth saw the light. Eventually, each of them found her fortune. They had family again! They had love in life again! They had hope of decedents again! God refilled their empty hands with abundance. God turned their grief into indescribable joy. God opened the unlimited possibilities at the end of the almost dead-end.
The greatest gift in life is love. Love is not lofty and other-worldly. Love starts with a small decision. Love is expressed as many daily small caring actions through all human interactions in all life contexts. Love is sacrifice one’s own interest for other’s good. The greatest love is from God. God is love. He is the one who created us and still attentively watches over us. He never leaves us or forsakes us. He is the refuge in our trouble times. He actively manages our benefits in this life journey.
“Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.” Let us follow God where he goes. Let us dwell among his people and walk in his ways. Let us see others as God’s people too. Let us be the instruments of his grace and mercy on earth when we can.
Prayer suggestions
Life can be hard and difficult sometimes. Where is our help from? Whom can we look to and run to for help? The eternal God who was, is and shall be is active and work among us. Let us run to him. Let us mind our everyday life tasks before us.
God our provision and our strength, how comforting it is to know that you always are there to watch over us, no matter how we may feel you! We praise your steadfast love for us. We realize that our life journey is not a lonely journey. You have our best interests in your mind. We can trust you. We believe that you can turn around our every adverse situation. Strengthen us so we will move on with daily tasks no matter how difficult they appear. Use us if we can be your instruments of compassion and grace. Thank you. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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