Book Introduction: RUTHToday's Reading:
Ruth 1:1-22
"Ruth and Naomi"
Focus Verses: Ruth 1:16-18
16 But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me." 18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.
Insight:
Ruth was not an Israelite, and yet she embraced the God of Israel and his people with unselfish and wholehearted devotion. She was determined to stay with and care for her desolate mother-in-law, Naomi. God was faithful to them both, providing for their needs and blessing their future. Ruth is listed in the ancestry of King David and is therefore also in the lineage of Jesus Christ.
Response and Action:
God is faithful to all who turn to him in faith. Ruth turned embraced the true God and was willing to leave everything behind. I want to follow after God and be willing to leave anything that would hinder me from doing so.
O God, help me to love you with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. Help me to walk in your ways and to delight in your will. Thank you for accepting me as your child. Please provide for my needs and bless me as I seek you first. Through Christ, I pray. Amen.
Proverb for Today: Prov. 10:25
"When the storm has swept by, the wicked are gone, but the righteous stand firm forever."
New Testament for Today: Eph. 2:19
19 "...you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household..."
In Context: Ephesians 2:1-22
Recommended Reading:
Knowing God
by J.I. Packer
