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- Apr 25, 2006
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Turnaround
''Let me ... glean ... after him in whose sight I may find favour'' Ruth 2:2
Ruth: she has her own book in the Bible, her name is an important one in the family tree of Jesus, and lessons drawn from her life are taught all over the world thousands of years after she died.
She must've been born with 'lucky' tattooed to her forehead, right? Actually, no. She wasn't born into a family who worshipped God. Her husband died whilst she was still young. And she ends up living in a land far from her roots.
Yet the story of Ruth shows what a hopeful turnaround God can make out of doubtful beginnings. The opening scene sees Ruth slap-bang in the middle of a famine. No food, no hubby, no family. The only person in her life is Naomi, the mother-in-law (a woman so short on laughs she changes her own name by deed poll to 'Bitter').
It seems the two have little in common: Naomi was Jewish; Ruth wasn't. Naomi was old; Ruth young. Naomi wanted rid of her daughter-in-law; Ruth wanted to stick with her mother-in-law. In the end, despite the differences, Ruth gets her way and devotes herself to the care of her mother-in-law.
God's eyes, which 'range the earth' looking for a heart of faith and compassion (2 Chronicles 16:9), zoom in on Ruth. From here on, 'blessing' is written all over Ruth. She gets a new, good, husband, a new home with plenty of land, and a child called Obed, who turns out to be the future granddad of David, Israel's greatest ever king. What a turnaround!
written by Bob Gass
''Let me ... glean ... after him in whose sight I may find favour'' Ruth 2:2
Ruth: she has her own book in the Bible, her name is an important one in the family tree of Jesus, and lessons drawn from her life are taught all over the world thousands of years after she died.
She must've been born with 'lucky' tattooed to her forehead, right? Actually, no. She wasn't born into a family who worshipped God. Her husband died whilst she was still young. And she ends up living in a land far from her roots.
Yet the story of Ruth shows what a hopeful turnaround God can make out of doubtful beginnings. The opening scene sees Ruth slap-bang in the middle of a famine. No food, no hubby, no family. The only person in her life is Naomi, the mother-in-law (a woman so short on laughs she changes her own name by deed poll to 'Bitter').
It seems the two have little in common: Naomi was Jewish; Ruth wasn't. Naomi was old; Ruth young. Naomi wanted rid of her daughter-in-law; Ruth wanted to stick with her mother-in-law. In the end, despite the differences, Ruth gets her way and devotes herself to the care of her mother-in-law.
God's eyes, which 'range the earth' looking for a heart of faith and compassion (2 Chronicles 16:9), zoom in on Ruth. From here on, 'blessing' is written all over Ruth. She gets a new, good, husband, a new home with plenty of land, and a child called Obed, who turns out to be the future granddad of David, Israel's greatest ever king. What a turnaround!
written by Bob Gass
