Come Home for Christmas
Tuesday, December 5, 2006
My Prayer Today
Dear God, I come to You today and worship Your name. You are so holy. I thank You that You not only hear my prayers, but You also answer them. I do not want to rely upon my own ability to work things out in my life, but I rely wholly upon You. I ask that You would work out the details and the difficulties of my life. I cannot solve my own problems, I need You to do it. Help me to rely upon You. I ask that You would give me a heart of prayer today. Show me the way to follow You every second of my life. Help me avoid short cuts and to walk in faith with You. I ask this in Jesus' name. . . Amen.
God’s Word Today
Ruth 1:1-5
1 In the days when the judges ruled in Israel, a man from Bethlehem in Judah left the country because of a severe famine. He took his wife and two sons and went to live in the country of Moab. 2 The man's name was Elimelech, and his wife was Naomi. Their two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in the land of Judah. During their stay in Moab, 3 Elimelech died and Naomi was left with her two sons. 4 The two sons married Moabite women. One married a woman named Orpah, and the other a woman named Ruth. But about ten years later, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion died. This left Naomi alone, without her husband or sons.
Reflecting on God’s Word
We are continuing to learn more about Ruth’s family and how taking a short cut led to disaster.
All-in-all, the move to Moab appeared to be a short cut to a better life for the family. The move seemed reasonable, logical, right in their eyes.
What is the result of the move for Elimelech? (Verse 3).
The focus now moves to Naomi. She reaps the consequences of the short cut move. No husband to help her raise her sons and no community to help her or family to comfort her.
In the culture of the time, Naomi would not have been able to work. She had no means to support her family – other than what they brought with them. And, remember, this was to be a short stay, so the supplies may have been limited.
Naomi was on a dead-end road. What do we do when we find ourselves on a dead-end road?
A Deeper Exploration of God’s Word
When faced with a dead-end, we turn around – go home! But, the Scripture tells us that Naomi stayed.
How long did Naomi stay in Moab?
What happens to her family?
Write the names mentioned in Ruth 1:1-4:
Who is missing from the list?
Understanding God’s Purpose for Us
God is not mentioned in the family’s plans. In making the decision to move to Moab, there is no mention or reference to God! (In the other five sections in the Book of Ruth, God is front and center.)
When we exclude God from our decision making, we take short cuts that lead to dead-ends.
Read Proverbs 3:5-6: 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will direct your paths.
What is God’s purpose – plan – for us as we make decisions?
Applying God’s Word to Our Purpose
Where are you tempted to take a short cut? Career decision? Marriage? Financial? Lying? Cheating?
How can we avoid short cuts in our daily walk with God?
Thoughts
Almost every culture has a folktale about “three magic wishes.” Most feature a genie or some other mythical figure who grants the person’s requests. A short cut to riches, fame, happiness appear to be the result, but almost all of these tales end in tragedy.
The desire to take the easy way appeals to us. Short cuts appear to be the better way – get it now and not worry about the consequences. But God teaches us that nothing in this world can satisfy us fully, for even if we gained the whole world (wish 1?), we would eventually lose it.
One short cut tale tells us about a stockbroker who encountered a genie on the way to the office. When offered a wish, the man asked for and received a copy of his local newspaper dated one year into the future. He hurriedly turned to the financial page, hoping to "make a killing" in the market. But he found more than he bargained for. On the opposite page he saw his picture in an obituary describing his death in an automobile accident the preceding day.
Life is short and very uncertain. Short cuts end in dead ends. When we leave God out of the decision making, we are lost. We cannot know what the future will bring. We can only ask God to turn us away from trivial pursuits and direct our hearts to follow Him. So we pray as Moses did, "Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom" (Psalm 90:12)