The Testimony of Naomi (Ruth 1:6-15)

3/12/2010 8:30 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                              Focus:  The testimony of Naomi

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                        Reference:  Ruth 1:6-15

 

            Message of the verses:  “6 ¶  Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the land of Moab, for she had heard in the land of Moab that the LORD had visited His people in giving them food. 7  So she departed from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. 8  And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the LORD deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me. 9  "May the LORD grant that you may find rest, each in the house of her husband." Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. 10  And they said to her, "No, but we will surely return with you to your people." 11  But Naomi said, "Return, my daughters. Why should you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? 12  "Return, my daughters! Go, for I am too old to have a husband. If I said I have hope, if I should even have a husband tonight and also bear sons, 13  would you therefore wait until they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters; for it is harder for me than for you, for the hand of the LORD has gone forth against me." 14  And they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. 15  Then she said, "Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; return after your sister-in-law.’”

            I suppose that the reason that I look to godly people to help me understand what is in the Scriptures is that at times when I read them I miss the point of what I am reading, and this section is one of those times when I have missed the point in my previous readings of it.

            In the first SD that I wrote on Ruth I quoted a portion from Warren Wiersbe that gives direction on how he would do this chapter in a way that it is understandable and he wrote that “We see in this chapter three mistakes that we must avoid as we deal with the problems and trials of life.”  The second mistake is “Deception:  trying to hide our mistakes,” and it covers verses 6-18 of the first chapter of Ruth of which today’s sub-point is the first of three sub-points.

            When I have read the book of Ruth in the past I saw the sovereign hand of God working to bring about His plan on the earth, but I didn’t see the sin that was there and that is what Warren Wiersbe points out and what I need to learn about so that I can look at my own life and not just see the sovereign hand of the Lord in it, but see the sins in my life that can possibility prevent the blessings from God that he wants to give to me.  I realize that this should be in the next section of this SD, but I couldn’t help myself.

            It was sin that caused Naomi and her family to leave Israel, just as it was sin that caused Abraham to leave the Promised Land when there was a famine in his time.  Naomi did not confess her sin to the Lord and say that she and her family had sinned by coming there and when her daughter-in-law’s wanted to return with her she committed another sin by not allowing them both to return with her, for they both would have been in the land of Israel where the Lord was, and not in the land of Moab where there were idols there to worship.

            Naomi seems to blame her problems on the Lord from what she says in verse 13b:  “No, my daughters; for it is harder for me than for you, for the hand of the LORD has gone forth against me.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I want to be in the place where the Lord can bless me, I want to seek the Holy Spirit to search my heart, to confess any sin that He brings to my mind so that when the Lord desires to bless me that I will be ready for the blessing.  Warren Wiersbe quotes a man named Jacob Stam who said:  “Lord, we’ve asked you to bless all these things; but, please, Lord, make us blessable.”   I agree with this statement, and I desire to be blessable before the Lord.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1. “Search me O God and know my heart today, try me O Saviour all my thoughts I pray, see if there be some wicked way in me, cleanse me from every sin and set me free.”

 

3/12/2010 9:12 AM