Friday, September 6, 2013

By: Rachelle Hitt Bilbo

Sweet Redemption

Psalm 111:9 He sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant forever. Holy and awesome is His Name!

Most of our devotions about sidekicks have revolved around people who served other heroic people. However, today's devotion is about a woman who followed another woman who by all accounts could do NOTHING for her.

Because of a famine in Israel, a Hebrew family moved to Moab. Elimelech and his wife Naomi had two sons, and each of them married a wife from Moab. In time, Elimelech and his two sons died leaving behind the three widows in Moab. Upon losing her two sons and husband, Naomi opted to return to her native home of Bethlehem. She encouraged her two daughter-in-laws, Orpah and Ruth, to stay in their own country with their families. After much coercing, Orpah decided to stay, but Ruth insisted that she would accompany her mother-in-law.

She uttered these moving words in Ruth 1:16 to her mother-in-law, "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." She did this even though her mother-in-law could not do anything for her. She didn't have another son for Ruth to marry or great wealth.

Both Ruth and Orpah were grieving the loss of their husbands...of their dream of a family. However, they responded to their grief differently. Orpah returned to her old life, her old religion and her old way of thinking...to what seemed familiar and comfortable. I believe that when Ruth married Naomi's son, she was introduced to the God of Israel, the one true God. Because of that, she could not return to her old life.

Her faithfulness to God and her family caused her to choose an unknown path, and she was greatly blessed by doing so!

Upon arriving in Bethlehem, a land owner named Boaz noticed Ruth and poured out his favor upon her. When Ruth shared the news of Boaz's kindness to Naomi, it was discovered that Boaz was actually a distant family member of Naomi's deceased husband!

Shortly after, Boaz redeemed Ruth and took her as his wife vowing to take care of her and Naomi from that point forward.

In our grief, it could be easy to return to old habits or to turn our backs on everything we KNOW is right...even God ... even our families. However, when you keep your eyes fixed on Him and remain faithful to those that He has entrusted you with, you WILL be rewarded.

Dear Lord, I thank You that even in my darkest hours, my life is NOT over. I can still have hope in YOU!

I thank You, my Jesus, for dying for me. I believe that You are Lord and that God raised You from the grave so that I can have eternal life.