I Am Ruth, Part 1

I've been reading and studying Ruth lately and it has been wonderful (and I've just finished chapter 1). It is an amazing tale of redemption even in the first chapter! God is so good.

As I've been reading, I've been trying to place myself in Ruth's shoes, and I have seen things in the text that I may have glossed over before. Here's some of what I've been encouraged by so far:

• Elimelech and his family set out from Bethlehem to find food - not to be missionaries.
  God's plans were bigger than Elimelech and Naomi's plans. Why should that be a surprise to me? How many times have I set out to do something and God did so much more than I had even imagined?
• Ruth was separated from God
  Ruth was a Moabitess and the God of Israel was not her God. She wasn't seeking after God - but God was seeking after her! Before I came to know Christ, I may have gone to church every Sunday, but I wasn't seeking Christ. Just like Ruth, he sought me out. How glad am I that he did!
• It was through relationship that Ruth came to know of God's love
  Through the witness of her mother-in-law Naomi, Ruth came to know of God's love. God may have also revealed himself to Ruth through her ten years of marriage. There are many people who demonstrated God's love to me including Jackie, my youth pastor's wife. Yes, she told me of God's love but much more importantly she showed my God's love in how she lived her life.
• Ruth's life was radically changed because of her encounter with the living God
  After the death of her husband, she was given the option to go back to her old way of life and press the "reset" button. Because her life had been so radically changed, she refused (don't you make me do this!) to go back but instead chose to follow Naomi to a land she never know, to be around a people that weren't hers, but... to serve a God that she had come to know and love! My life in Christ is so much more than my life without Him could ever be. Go back to the way it was before I knew Christ? May it never be. I will choose Christ!

How wonderful it is to be able to relate to this precious sister of mine - Ruth! I am thankful for the message of love and redemption seen in her life and I am so blessed that I too know God's redeeming love!

Linking up with Holley Gerth!

Joining the Wise Woman Linkup!