{"id":16,"date":"2017-04-28T08:02:56","date_gmt":"2017-04-28T08:02:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shop.honestreflections.net\/?p=16"},"modified":"2019-12-10T08:44:52","modified_gmt":"2019-12-10T13:44:52","slug":"gleanings-from-ruth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2017\/04\/28\/gleanings-from-ruth\/","title":{"rendered":"Gleanings from Ruth"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0“<\/strong><\/sup>But Ruth replied, \u201cDon\u2019t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.<\/strong><\/span> \u00a0<\/sup>Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord<\/span> punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!\u201d<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Ruth 1:16-18<\/span><\/strong><\/em>
\nThese are\u00a0amazing verses. \u00a0The majority of people think they’re a wonderful wedding verse. \u00a0In fact, in my single days I cross-stitched this verse trusting God for a mate. It had a beautiful wedding dress draped over a hope chest and these words were\u00a0written beneath it. \u00a0Lovely, right? \u00a0Except these verses aren’t actually about marriage or following the love of your life. \u00a0They’re about two women who had an incredible relationship and how they followed God together.
\nLet me introduce you to Naomi. \u00a0Naomi had a hard life. \u00a0Her husband moved her from her hometown with their two sons. \u00a0While there, first her husband died, then both of her sons about 10 years later. \u00a0That’s a tremendous amount of loss for any one person. \u00a0Her sons, however had married and that is where we meet Ruth and Orpah. \u00a0The Bible isn’t clear how long they were married. We just know this is how these women came into relationship with each other. They were in-laws. Naomi was also from a foreign country, so they were also foreigners to her.
\nPicture this, you’re in a foreign country, you’ve lost your husband and sons. \u00a0You have no money, you’re destitute. \u00a0You’re left with two women who are now your daughters-in-law. \u00a0(Let’s face it, mother-in-laws and daughters-in-law don’t always have a reputation for the best relationships.)<\/em> \u00a0What would you do?
\nNaomi trusted God. In fact, Naomi was so devoted to God,\u00a0that when she wants to move back home, they want to go with her. Why would they want to go with her? \u00a0That means that they are willing to leave all that is home to them to follow her into a strange land where they will be the foreigners. \u00a0They are willing to leave their gods for her God. Their very lives could be in danger and they could be subjected to unthinkable things. Yet they want to go. \u00a0Why?
\nThere is only one answer. \u00a0It’s God. \u00a0It is God in Naomi. \u00a0It is how Naomi has loved and treated them. \u00a0It has drawn them not only into a close relationship with her, but with God as well. \u00a0That is incredible! \u00a0Eventually Orpah decides to stay, but Ruth is adamant, she’s going. That one decision, her choice to follow Naomi and Naomi’s God gave her a place in history no one could of ever expected. \u00a0She is in the lineage of Jesus. \u00a0She married Boaz and gave birth to Obed, who is the father of Jesse and grandfather of King David.
\nThat all happened because Naomi loved God and loved those around her. Naomi suffered such tragedy. In fact, she changes her name to Mara “because the Lord has made life very bitter for me.” (Ruth 1:20). \u00a0Yet in her bitterness she still loved, in her sorrow she still trusted, and in her pain\u00a0she still drew others to her and to God.
\nCorrie Ten Boom sums it up well:<\/p>\n

\u201cLife is but a Weaving\u201d (the Tapestry Poem)<\/p>\n

\u201cMy life is but a weaving
\nBetween my God and me.
\nI cannot choose the colors
\nHe weaveth steadily.<\/p>\n

Oft\u2019 times He weaveth sorrow;
\nAnd I in foolish pride
\nForget He sees the upper
\nAnd I the underside.<\/p>\n

Not \u2019til the loom is silent
\nAnd the shuttles cease to fly
\nWill God unroll the canvas
\nAnd reveal the reason why.<\/p>\n

The dark threads are as needful
\nIn the weaver\u2019s skillful hand
\nAs the threads of gold and silver
\nIn the pattern He has planned<\/p>\n

He knows, He loves, He cares;
\nNothing this truth can dim.
\nHe gives the very best to those
\nWho leave the choice to Him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2015 Corrie ten Boom<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0“But Ruth replied, \u201cDon\u2019t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. \u00a0Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely… Continue reading Gleanings from Ruth<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3,4,6,7,9,11,12,16,18,21,24,26,28],"class_list":["post-16","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-daughter-in-law","tag-david","tag-foreign","tag-foreigners","tag-god","tag-jesse","tag-jesus","tag-mother-in-law","tag-obed","tag-relationships","tag-sorrow","tag-tragedy","tag-women","post_format-post-format-image","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1615,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16\/revisions\/1615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}