3/23/2010 9:21 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: We must live in hope
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Ruth 2:17-23
Message of the verses: “17 ¶ So she gleaned in the field until
evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of
barley. 18 She took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw
what she had gleaned. She also took it out and gave Naomi what she had left
after she was satisfied. 19 Her mother-in-law then said to her, "Where did
you glean today and where did you work? May he who took notice of you be
blessed." So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said,
"The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz." 20 Naomi said
to her daughter-in-law, "May he be blessed of the LORD who has not
withdrawn his kindness to the living and to the dead." Again Naomi said to
her, "The man is our relative, he is one of our closest relatives."
21 Then Ruth the Moabitess said, "Furthermore, he said to me, ’You should
stay close to my servants until they have finished all my harvest.’" 22
Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, "It is good, my daughter, that you
go out with his maids, so that others do not fall upon you in another
field." 23 So she stayed close by the maids of Boaz in order to glean
until the end of the barley harvest and the wheat harvest. And she lived with
her mother-in-law.”
Warren
Wiersbe points out that “grace is love that pays the price to help the
undeserving one. Ruth’s experience of
grace gave her hope as she anticipated what her kinsman redeemer would do.
“And
now abide faith, hope, love’ (1 Cor. 13:13), and they still abide with us as we
abide in Jesus Christ and trust in Him.”
All three of these, faith, hope and love, are seen in this second
chapter of Ruth.
Warren
Wiersbe also explains about the “kinsman redeemer” in this section, and it is
first found in Lev. 25:47-55: “47 ’Now if the means of a stranger or of a
sojourner with you becomes sufficient, and a countryman of yours becomes so
poor with regard to him as to sell himself to a stranger who is sojourning with
you, or to the descendants of a stranger’s family, 48 then he shall have redemption right after he
has been sold. One of his brothers may redeem him, 49 or his uncle, or his uncle’s son, may redeem
him, or one of his blood relatives from his family may redeem him; or if he
prospers, he may redeem himself. 50 ’He
then with his purchaser shall calculate from the year when he sold himself to
him up to the year of jubilee; and the price of his sale shall correspond to
the number of years. It is like the days of a hired man that he shall be with
him. 51 ’If there are still many years,
he shall refund part of his purchase price in proportion to them for his own
redemption; 52 and if few years remain
until the year of jubilee, he shall so calculate with him. In proportion to his
years he is to refund the amount for his redemption. 53 ’Like a man hired year by year he shall be
with him; he shall not rule over him with severity in your sight. 54 ’Even if he is not redeemed by these means,
he shall still go out in the year of jubilee, he and his sons with him. 55 ’For the sons of Israel
are My servants; they are My servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt
In
the case of Ruth, who was the daughter-in-law of Elimelech, Boaz was in the
position of redeeming the property that was owned by Elimelech who had
mortgaged it before leaving for Moab
The
subject of this section is Naomi and when last seen she was very bitter towards
God, but now in this section, because of Ruth and Boaz there is a new hope in
her life and she uses the word blessed and we see this new hope in her as it
replaces her bitterness.
This
concludes the second chapter of Ruth and I must say that with the help of
Warren Wiersbe’s commentary and of course, the help of the Holy Spirit and the
Word of God I have learned new things from this wonderful little book.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I must also add forgiveness to faith, hope,
and love as I think about this 2nd chapter of Ruth. For without forgiveness one cannot have
faith, hope and love. Forgiveness is a
two way street, and first of all I had to be forgiven of all of my sins before
I could truly forgive others who have offended me otherwise I would not realize
how to forgive them. It is the same with
love, for the Bible says that we can love others because He first loved us, for
we could not know how to love if He had not first loved us. Learning to forgive others and to love others
sets me free to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord and it is not
something that I can learn overnight, but something I have to continue to learn
and to put into practice.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
- Love and forgive others as I have been loved and forgiven.
3/23/2010 9:57 AM
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