The Adult's Sunday School
Class - Proverbs
22:13-15 What is the new 'rod' of discipline?
scripture reading: #676
Sunday
evening Vesper's at
Wednesday,
@
May your wages be full...even though your fortunes may have fallen.
Ruth 2.8. So Boaz said to Ruth, "My daughter, listen
to me. Don't go and glean in another field and don't go away from here. Stay
here with my servant girls. 9. Watch the field where the men are harvesting,
and follow along after the girls. I have told the men not to touch you. And
whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have
filled."
10. At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground.
She exclaimed, "Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice
me--a foreigner?" 11. Boaz replied, "I've been told all about what
you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband--how you
left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people
you did not know before.
12. May the LORD repay you for what you have done. May
you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of
This is a great story, the
story of Naomi and her two daughters-in-law. It is generally viewed as a love story between Boaz and
Ruth, which eventually led to the birth of a great-grandson named David
- the Shepherd King.
In fact, one of the great
vows of literature which has a classic role in many wedding rituals is a quote
from Ruth which says, "Whither
thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall
be my people, and thy God my God..."
Of course this was said by
Ruth to her 1st mother-in-law, Naomi.
I think the key to
understanding the 'fairy-tale' story of Ruth and Boaz is really found in the
remainder of the quote: Ruth
1:16. "And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from
following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou
lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: 17.
Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me,
and more also, if ought but death part thee and me. 18. When she saw that she
was stedfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her."
Notice that 17th verse, "Where thou diest, will I
die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought
but death part thee and me."
Now notice the 18th verse, "18. When she saw that
she was stedfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto
her."
That’s the King James
Version of verse 18.
The Living Bible says, "18. And when Naomi saw that
Ruth had made up her mind and could not be persuaded otherwise, she stopped
urging her."
The New International Version says, "18. When Naomi
realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her."
I don't care how you
translate it –
·
'stedfastly minded,'
·
'made up her mind and
could not be persuaded otherwise,'
·
'was determined'
the message is the same.
If your fortunes have
fallen,
·
it takes a measure of
thinking things through;
·
it takes persistence;
·
and it
takes understanding where your loyalty lies
to come to the point where your wages are full.
That doesn't mean that your
next job after a crisis will be in the manor house, even if you feel you were
"to the manor born."
It's quite possible that
you have found yourself in various
degrees of starting over again.
That's okay. Think about it
- change the things you didn't particularly like the first time and do it
better this time.
The lineage of Jesus didn't
come from Ruth's first husband - it came from the second time around.
When it appears all is lost, remember that you are only
seeing things that have been, not what will be.
God has called us to keep
looking upward and onward. Don’t stop in the wilderness of sorrow, doubt,
confusion, hurt, disappointment, distress, despair, or loneliness. Keep
gathering, keep going, and keep looking up.