Key Verse: Ruth 1:19-22

Ruth and Naomi travelled to Bethlehem. Naomi was returning back home afflicted after 10 years due to her husband and her son’s deaths. This story shows how God restored Naomi’s life from bitterness to sweet.

Naomi lived in the times of the Judges – in times of famine and disobedience. God would allow their enemies to oppress them and take their harvest. When Naomi returned to Bethlehem, God could start healing her. She was in the right place and God was able to bless her.

Naomi did three things to restore her life from bitterness to sweet:

 

1. She let go of the past (Ruth 1:6)

Naomi had nothing and was full of bitterness for the death of her family. She had lost her security and future. After spending 10 years in Moab she was willing to let go of all the bad things in her past and had to trust God to be her future. So she returned to Bethlehem.

2. She trusted in God for her future

God provided three needs for Naomi:-
a) God started to provide Ruth and Naomi with bread as soon as she returned – as it was at the time of the barley harvest (v.22).
b) A faithful friend – Ruth means friend. God used Ruth, a faithful companion, as a channel of blessing to restore Naomi’s life.
c) Provision of kinsman-redeemer, a relative of her husband to buy back her husbands property – Boaz was a rich relative of her husband. Ruth gleaned the fields on Boaz’s property. It was a divine appointment by God that led Ruth to glean on Boaz property.

3. She co-operated with God (Ruth 2:20)

Blessed be the Lord who has not forsaken us. Naomi knew it was not by chance that Ruth gleaned from Boaz field. So Naomi co-operated with God and told Ruth to lie down at Boaz feet when he slept and to ask Boaz to fulfil the duties of a kinsman-redeemer by marrying her and buying back Naomi’s husband’s property. Naomi’s co-operation with God would secure Ruth’s future too.

Boaz and Ruth’s son was called Obed – the father of Jesse and King David. It was Naomi’s neighbours who called the son Obed (means “serving”) as he was used to serve a purpose – to restore Naomi’s life from bitterness to sweet.

 

We need to be sensitive to the calling of God just as Naomi was obedient to God’s will.

 

Your Pastor

 

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If you would like to accept Jesus into your heart please pray the following prayer.
“Dear God, I am a sinner and need forgiveness. I believe that Jesus Christ shed His precious blood and died for my sin. I am willing to turn from sin. I now invite Christ to come into my heart and life as my personal Saviour.”

If you have just prayed this prayer and accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, congratulations! We invite you to contact us as we would love to pray a blessing over your life and help guide you on your journey.

The next step. As a way to grow closer to Him, the Bible tells us to follow up on our commitment.

• Get baptised as commanded by Christ.
• Tell someone else about your new faith in Christ.
• Spend time with God each day. It does not have to be a long period of time. Just develop the daily habit of praying to Him and reading His Word. Ask God to increase your faith and your understanding of the Bible.
• Seek fellowship with other followers of Jesus. Develop a group of believing friends to answer your questions and support you.
• Find a local church where you can worship God.

God bless you.