We are continuing our study in the book of Ruth.
Last week, we studied chapter one concerning a man from Judah named Elimelech relocating his entire family to Moab, the land of pagan idol worshipers.
Elimelech lived during the time of the Judges, was married to Naomi and they had two sons, named Mahlon and Kilion.
However, after some time, Elimelek died, and Naomi was left with her two sons.
They however married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other named Ruth.
After they had lived there in Moab for about ten years, another unfortunate thing happened, both Mahlon and Kilion also died.
They were left as three poor widows in the land of famine who had to take care of themselves the hard way.
Considering the very difficult situation they were facing, Naomi heard some good news regarding their homeland.
There was food in the land where they came from.
She then decided to venture and go back to Judah and bring with her her two daughters in law from Moab.
But along the way, Naomi thought that her two daughters-in-law might have difficulty in that new place and so, she bid them to go back into their mother’s home.
She even prayed for them that the Lord will show kindness to them and that God will grant each of them another husband.
Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept aloud.
And so, Orpah kissed her mother in-law goodbye, but the Bible says that Ruth clung to her.
That means she decided to go back to Judah with Naomi.
Her words were powerful: "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.
Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried.
May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.”
She broke all her old loyalties of the past life of sin and embrace a life of worship to the true God of Israel.
After some time, they arrived in Judah, but created a lot of sensation to the community and the women said, "Can this be Naomi?"
They could not believe how Naomi has changed completely in her physical appearance.
And worse, even the attitude of Naomi also changed into bitterness and resentment.
When she left Judah, she was sweet and smiling, now, she came home sour and bitter.
She even blamed God for her poverty and told them, "Call me Naomi for the Lord has afflicted me and
the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”
Hence, Naomi chose resentment towards God for the failures she went through and it was a big mistake.
The burdens she carried were so overwhelming as she faced the future in Judah.
But it was Ruth who had maintained her good attitude in spite of the setbacks she received.
They did not know that God is unfolding for them a great plan for their lives in their new found home.
Today, we will look at chapter two of the Book of Ruth and see God's providence upon them.
In here, we are being introduced with a man named Boaz.
He was a wealthy relative of Naomi's deceased husband, Elimelek.
It was during this time of wheat harvest that Ruth told Naomi that she wanted to go to the field to pick up the leftover grains of the workers.
It turned out that the field that she entered and worked was the field belonging to Boaz.
God's providential hand was already at work.
When Boaz arrived, he greeted the harvesters, he saw Ruth and inquired about her background who was already working in his field.
He was told good things about Ruth because she asked for permission to glean and gather the sheaves behind the harvesters in his field.
They also told Boaz how she worked diligently to gather enough harvest from morning till afternoon except for a short rest in the shelter.
After hearing this, Boaz was pleased with what he heard and invited Ruth to stay in his field rather than to work elsewhere.
He knew that she was a relative and even promised protection for Ruth and provision of water when thirsty.
It was a great surprise for Ruth to receive such kind treatment considering that she is a foreigner in the land of Judah.
But Boaz reiterated his admiration for the character of Ruth in taking care of her mother in law and her sacrifice in leaving behind her homeland to live with a people she did not know before.
Boaz then invited her to a fellowship meal and offered her some roasted grain where she ate and was fully satisfied.
He even instructed his harvesters to pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick-up.
After gleaning in the field the entire day, she gathered what she got and brought it to her mother-in law who received it with joy.
When Naomi learned that Ruth had worked in the field of Boaz, their relative that day, Naomi realized that indeed, God's kindness was upon them.
She then instructed Ruth to continue working in that field because she was in safe hands.
In our study for today, we will see the godly character of Ruth in the way she sacrificed to serve her mother in law.
Her humility and willingness to serve Naomi in spite of the warm weather condition was truly exceptional and extraordinary for a Moabite.
Also, we will see in this chapter the kindness of Boaz and the sense of propriety in his treatment to his workers even to the foreigners in his field.
We will also see in here how Naomi's faith in God was strengthened thereby transforming her bitterness into hope and joy.
She was assured that in spite of her loss and her circumstances, God had not forsaken her but shown her kindness through her daughter-in -law, Ruth.
Surely, we can learn a lot of spiritual lessons from this chapter we are studying as we serve God.
We must always remember that God looks at the condition of our hearts.
He wants us to serve with humility and obedience.
The apostle Peter reminded us in 1 Peter 5:7 (NIV) "5 In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time."
The promise in this verse is to lift us up someday.
To do this, we must set aside our pride and serve one another with utmost humility.
Then, finally, after we have been faithful in doing so, he will then lift us up, he will bless us and he will reward us at the proper time.
Faithfulness and perseverance is the key.
And that is what happened to the life of Ruth.
She served Naomi with great sacrifice and utmost humility.
God saw the heart of Ruth and promoted her to be married to Boaz and became part of the genealogy of the Messiah.
She was indeed the Cinderella of the Bible.
And so, don't give up when your burden seems to be heavy and difficult.
Trust God, remain humble and serve Him with all your heart.
At the end, you will be richly rewarded by the Lord who sees our hearts.
Today, we will look at Ruth's Faith, Ruth's service and then at Naomi's hope.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE SECOND CHAPTER OF RUTH.
1. RUTH’S FAITH
Ruth 2:1-3 (NIV) Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a man of standing from the clan of Elimelek, whose name was Boaz.
2 And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor.”
Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.” 3 So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek.”
Here we find Boaz, a wealthy relative of Naomi's deceased husband, Elimelech.
During the time of the great famine, when Elimelech and his whole family left the Promised Land and relocated them to Moab, probably, Boaz stayed behind and God provided for him and made him wealthy.
But Elimelech and his family had to go through difficult circumstances while in Moab that at the end, Naomi and Ruth went back poor and destitute.
And so, Elimelech made the wrong choice by bringing his family to Moab, while Boaz made the right choice by staying in the land.
Many times, our spiritual blessings or our failures in life are the consequences of our choices even in difficult circumstances.
And so, regardless of the situation, we need to seek His constant guidance and choose the right path away from sin.
Obedience is the key to blessing.
Also in that first verse, we are introduced with that word "relative" which carried a very significant meaning in the Book of Ruth.
The ancient Hebrew word used for relative is "goel" which means that Boaz is more than just being related.
He is also a special family representative or the chieftain in the family.
Hence, he carries himself an important position in the clan.
This truth is important as he takes the position of a kinsman redeemer for the family of Elimelech.
He will carry on the mantle so that the name of Elimelech will not be forgotten in Israel.
Verse two then tells us that Ruth asked Naomi to allow her to go to the field and to glean heads of grain so that they will have food to eat.
This is a sign of a strong initiative of Ruth to support her mother in law in spite of the fact that she is a foreigner in that land.
She had faith and great determination to work and improve her condition and not just stay in bed with self-pity.
Through these, we can discern the godly character of Ruth worthy to be part of the lineage of the Messiah.
Also, for a poor widow like Ruth working in the field in the heat of the sun and picking up the leftover grains behind the workers to support herself and her mother-in-law gives us insight of the people of Israel at that time.
It was said that farmers in Israel have a custom of not completely harvesting their fields.
They usually cut corners in harvesting and always leave some behind so that the poor and the needy can come and glean for themselves.
One author said that this was the social assistance program in Israel so that the poor can provide for their needs as they work with dignity.
This shows us that hard work is important rather than merely relying on government welfare.
God hates laziness but loves diligence and industry.
In all these things, we can discern the invisible hand of God at work in guiding Ruth every step of the way.
God looked at her humility, God was pleased with her self-sacrifice,
God also noticed her faith and her hope that all things will eventually turn out well if she does her part.
All these godly character traits of Ruth were significant in lifting her up and rewarding her at the end.
Ruth was truly a virtuous woman demonstrating her strong work ethics and her humble service that pleased the heart of God.
And that is the same thing that God is looking at our hearts as we serve God.
He wants to see our humility.
He wants to see our self-sacrifice.
He wants to see our perseverance.
He wants to see our hard work.
This will lead us to our first life lesson for today.
God always look at the character of our faith before he will bless us.
He will test our faith and He will prove our faith.
GOD LOOKS AT OUR FAITH.
Matthew 15:28 (NIV) 28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment."
If you will look at this wonderful story in the New Testament, we will find this poor Canaanite woman going to Jesus one day begging to heal her daughter.
But his disciples rebuked her because she was a Gentile.
And Jesus tested her faith by saying, "I was only sent to the lost sheep of Israel. It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs."
But her answer pleased Jesus.
She said, "Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table."
Even if she is considered as a dog and will eat the crumbs or leftovers, it does not matter, as long as she received God's blessings.
It was a sign of her belief in the healing power of Christ and manifested in humility and commitment to Christ's direction.
Christ saw in that woman a humble and dedicated faith and so, her daughter was healed at that very moment.
You see, every time we come to Christ, He will look and test at the quality of our faith.
And when Christ sees our faith in the most simplest and humble manner, as we serve Him and others, He will reward us accordingly.
And so, how is your faith?
How can we make sure that we have a genuine faith?
This brings us to the next lesson.
GOD REFINES OUR FAITH BY FIRE. 1 Peter 1:7 (NIV) 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."
The truth is, not all of us have the same level of faith.
Others have stronger faith while some have weaker faith while others are in between.
Our faith can also vary from day to day depending upon your emotional and spiritual condition.
And so, in order for our faith to become stronger, God had to refine our faith.
The illustration is like a precious gold being refined by fire to produce the best product.
And that refining process of our faith takes considerable amount of hardships and sacrifices to go through.
But in the end, the product is like that precious gold that will last a lifetime.
God's desire is that our faith will be refined by fire so that we will bring praise and glory to Christ.
Story:
The story is told of a group of women that met for Bible study.
While studying in the book of Malachi, chapter three, they came across verse three which says:
"He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."
This verse puzzled the women and they wondered how this statement applied to the character and nature of God.
One of the women offered to find out more about the process of refining silver, and to get back to the group at their next Bible study.
The following week, the woman called up a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him while at work.
She didn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest, beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.
As she watched the silversmith work, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up.
He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire, where the flames were the hottest as to burn away all the impurities.
The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot, then she thought again about the verse, that "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver."
She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the entire time the silver was being refined.
The man answered yes, that not only did he have to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on it the entire time it was in the fire.
If the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.
The woman was silent for a moment.
Then she asked the silversmith, "But how do you know when the silver is fully refined?"
He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that’s easy--when I see my image in it."
Brothers and sisters, we are not yet done in the refining process unless Christ sees His own image in us.
First, it was Ruth's faith.
2. RUTH’S SERVICE
Ruth 2:4-9 (NIV) 4 Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “The Lord be with you!” “The Lord bless you!” they answered. 5 Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, “Who does that young woman belong to?” 6 The overseer replied, “She is the Moabite who came back from Moab with Naomi. 7 She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.’ She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.” 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 the women who work for me. 9 Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.”
We can see here in verse 4 that Boaz arrived in his field and greeted the harvesters, "The Lord be with you!"
He was speaking godly blessing to his workers who were exposed to the elements of the sun and was treating them with utmost importance and respect.
This shows an exceptional godly character of Boaz as a man of authority.
Others probably would have arrived cursing and threatening their laborers when he seems them lazy or tired, but not Boaz.
He was different.
He was a man of God just like the godly character of Ruth and God was connecting them to each other for a purpose.
No wonder, Boaz's workers loved him as he maintained this good working relationship with his employees.
You can easily tell the real character of a man in authority by just seeing how he relates to his staff and by how they think of him.
An evil boss will always deal with his workers differently than a good boss.
Being kind and respectful are the kinds of character traits we need to always maintain especially those among us who have been given authority over people.
Because your godly character (or lack of it) will always show in the way you treat your subordinates.
And let me tell you that this is one big testimony that you will leave behind to your workers that can point them to love or to hate Christ.
We can learn that Boaz had a godly character in the way he treats his subordinates.
Ruth on the other hand had a godly character as she gleans in the harvest.
Notice in verse 7 that describes how the supervisor in the field was pleased as he speaks to Boaz concerning the work ethics of Ruth.
"She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter."
That means she was very diligent, she was hard-working and she was persevering in the way she worked.
It does not matter whether the weather is warm or not, what matters is that she does her best in the job.
And Ruth may not have been aware of, but the truth is, she was being watched and observed by the people around her.
And those who were watching her work will have an idea of the manner of person she was in her heart.
Incidentally, the supervisor in the field where Ruth worked was totally impressed by her good attitude towards work.
And the fact that she did a good job was important because it also made a good impression on Boaz, the owner of the field.
Good impression travels fast and will reach the boss easily because these are the people who are looking for good workers.
And I assure you that the boss will always ask around and inquire who are great workers in his company.
In the same manner, you and I are always being watched by people around us even though we are not aware of it.
We only have to do our job well and leave behind a good impression to our boss.
At the same time, your office mates are always talking how you work, how you take your long coffee breaks (if you do), how you always use your phone or internet, or post pictures on facebook while working.
Brothers and sisters, people are watching us, so, be very careful how you work.
Let them see our dedication in the work, let them see that we do not misuse or abuse company resources, let them see how we manage our time well and let them see the big difference of being a real Christian worker.
Because once you do, they will see your good work and give glory to God.
And in verses 8 and 9, we find Boaz speaking kindly to Ruth so that she will be taken cared of.
Boaz then told Ruth not to glean in another field and that she must stay for the following reasons:
1. In Boaz's field, Ruth would find companionship ("Stay here with the women who worked for me.")
2. In Boaz's field, Ruth would find protection ("I have told the men not to lay a hand on you.")
3. In Boaz's field, Ruth would find refreshment ("Whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink fro the water jars the men have filled.")
Ruth has found such unexpected blessings in the field of Boaz.
In fact, the kindness shown to Ruth by Boaz was just the initial reward for her self-sacrifice and humble service to her mother-in-law.
At this time, there was no indication of a romantic attraction between Boaz and Ruth (she had no make-up, smells bad and was probably rugged after a whole day's work in the sun) but it was amazing to see how Boaz extended his kindness to this foreigner in his field because of her character.
And this kindness developed into a full blossomed romantic love affair as we will see later in the next chapters of the Book.
Most of the times, it is important to consider first of all the character of our future spouse.
Don't concentrate right away on the physical beauty of that person you intend to marry.
You see, godly character does not diminish over time but grows and develops after many years but physical beauty will diminish over time as we grow older and will not last long.
And it is this inward beauty of a person that God is mostly interested upon.
And godly character is shown in the way we do our work, the way we serve others.
This then lead us to the next life lesson.
WORK DILIGENTLY WITH YOUR HANDS.
1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 (NIV) 11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, 12 so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody."
That word "diligent" means persistent, earnest, hard-working and industrious.
That is what the Scripture is advising us as we work.
When we work, we should mind our own business and not try to interfere with another man's work.
When we work, we had to work with our own hands with such diligence and skill.
When we work, we must win the respect of outsiders so that we will not be dependent on anybody.
Brothers and sisters, our work ethics should be an important avenue of witnessing to others about Christ's love and salvation.
We are sharing the Good news through our work ethics.
So, how do you work?
How do you serve Christ in your office?
What will your office mates say about the kind of worker you are?
But some of you will say, pastor, you don't know the gossip and the grumbling and the arguing I have to experience each day in our office.
To me, our office is a battle ground, a war zone or a market place.
I am only dragging my feet when I go to work every day.
With that, we will go to the next life lesson.
WORK WITHOUT GRUMBLING OR ARGUING. Philippians 2:14-15 (NIV) 14 Do everything without grumbling or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky."
That word "grumbling" means complaining or moaning due to presence of people who are dissatisfied or grouchy.
You see, if you have a boss who always put you down and look at you as machine and not as people, that is a place for grumbling and arguing.
And it would be very difficult to stay in that kind of work environment.
The turnover rate will be every fast indeed.
People will not be productive but will grumble a lot.
But the text tells us that if you are a worker, you must do your work well without grumbling or arguing so that you may become blameless and pure.
If you are the boss in that company, you must respect and be considerate to your workers.
Your task as a Christian employee or employer is to shine among men like the stars in the midst of the black sky.
And so, our work ethics is important either as a laborer or as a man or women of authority.
How is your work ethics?
Story:
According to the recent survey of USA today, Airbnb, a home sharing company takes the top spot as the best place to work for 2015.
They pushed Google out of the the top spot last year.
The companies on the list are ranked "by the people who know these companies best - their employees, "according to the researchers.
Since it was founded in 2008, Airbnb has turned the hotel industry upside down.
It takes in $500 million to $1 billion a year.
Airban makes money by taking a 3%cut of each booking and a 6% to 12% service fee from guests.
One good thing about this company is that it offers some company perks like quarterly travel vouchers to its employees.
With that, it is no surprise that Airbnb employees highly ranked their company.
"It's a company that values its people, values culture and spends a lot fo time and effort dfocused on it," said Sharda Caro, Airban Associate General counsel.
Here's a look at the top ten this year:
1. Airbnb
2. Bain and Company
3. Guidewire
4. Hubspot
5. Facebook
6. Linkedin
7. Boston Consulting Group
8. Google
9. Nestle Purina Pet Care
10. Zillow
And of course, they are all hiring.
These are the workplace attitudes that bosses hate:
NMJ--not my job
NMM--Need more money
WCT--Wastes company time
PPP--Promises, promises, promises
NMH--Needs more help
ACD--Always complaining and disagreeable
CWS--Clock watcher's syndrome
TTM--The trouble maker
First, Ruth's Faith.
Second, Ruth's Service.
Let us now examine Naomi's Hope.
3. NAOMI'S HOPE
Ruth 2:17-20 (NIV) 17 So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah. 18 She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over after she had eaten enough. 19 Her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!” Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working. “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz,” she said. 20 “The Lord bless him!” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. “He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead.” She added, “That man is our close relative; he is one of our guardian-redeemers.”
We find in these verses the diligence of Ruth in gleaning in the field from early morning to evening (from sun-up to sun-down).
She really worked hard and God blessed her labor.
Imagine Ruth stooping all day long to gather every bit of grain that comes her way.
Yet, she could only pick up one grain at a time and each one was considered valuable.
There was no available mechanized harvesting machine like we have now have at the time of Ruth.
Everything was done of manual labor.
Workers had to exert their great effort and energy to harvest the grains.
And those grains that Ruth gathered must be threshed and winnowed before she could cook and eat them.
At the end of the day, what she gathered was about an ephah of barley.
This was about five-and-one-half gallon tub or 22 liters of barley - a wonderful day's work for people who had nothing.
Besides all the barley grain, Ruth brought Naomi the food left over from the meal with Boaz.
This was obviously a much needed blessing for Naomi who reacted with praise to God for His goodness to her and to Ruth.
With that, Naomi's attitude changed from bitterness back to sweetness.
Her eyes have been opened to the providential work of God and she could smile again.
She can now see the plan of God unfolding right before her very eyes.
It was amazing.
Before, she could only see her pain, her loss and her misery.
No wonder, she had to stay home and had a little pity party while Ruth worked in the field.
But now, things are getting clearer.
It is a wonderful world after all.
She knew that all things would work out for good if you just remain in His fold.
Her hope and faith in God was being built up because of her partnership with her daughter in law.
Ruth's life and character had made a great impact on Naomi's own spiritual faith.
We could learn something from here.
Many times, we do not see the hand of God working in our midst because our eyes have been blinded by bitterness and resentment of sin.
But once our eyes are opened to the goodness of God, once our faith is brightened, then we can be able to see clearly God's plan being unfolded.
Such inspiration for faith can be imparted by people who are close to us and manifesting their faith in God.
Brothers and sisters, faith can be infectious indeed.
Your kind of faith can encourage me to have the same level of faith.
And our lack of it can contaminate other people who are close to us because they are always watching us.
That is what Naomi experienced when Ruth came back with joy and related to her the wonderful meeting with Boaz.
When she heard the name of Boaz mentioned by Ruth, she can't help my saying, "The Lord bless him!"
She was able to dream again.
She was able to regain her faith and her hope back.
Then she told Ruth a secret, “That man is our close relative; he is one of our guardian-redeemers.”
Praise the Lord, life is exciting after all.
There is a great future in store for them because their redemption is near.
This will lead us to the next life lesson:
HOPE WILL PRODUCE JOY. Romans 15:13 (NIV) 13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."
That is true, my brothers and sisters.
God will fill your cup with joy and peace because it has been made empty due to resentment and bitterness.
Such filling will be done as you trust God each day until you overflow.
That word "overflow" means super abundance, a deluge of goodness, an inundation of overflowing blessings.
And this is given to us by the power of the Holy Spirit in us.
Hope in God will always produce joy in us.
This bring us to our last life lesson.
HOPE WILL OVERCOME FEARS. Psalms 3:2-6 (NIV)2 Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.” 3 But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. 4 I call out to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy mountain. 5 I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me. 6 I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side.”
Finally, when you have super abundance of hope, you will overcome all fears and worries for the future.
It said that God is a shield around us.
He will lift up our heads high.
The last verse of this chapter ends with these words of assurance both for Ruth and Naomi: vs. 23 "So Ruth stayed close to the women of Boaz to glean until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law."
There was no more fear necessary for the future because there is a redeemer coming.
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, open your hearts and minds to Christ's Lordship.
Repent and turn away from your sins.
Let Christ transform your character.
He will give you peace, joy and hope.
And most of all, He will help you overcome your fears forever.
Closing Story:
The story is told of a king who had a close friend with whom he grew up.
The king's friend had a habit of looking at every situation that ever occurred in his life (positive or negative) and remarking, "This is good!"
One day the king and his friend were on a hunting expedition.
The king's friend would load and prepare the guns for the king.
In preparing one of the guns, the friend had apparently done something wrong, for after taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb was blown off.
Examining the situation the friend remarked as usual, "This is good!"
To which the king replied, "No, this is NOT good! You are going to jail!" and proceeded to send his friend to jail.
About a year later, the king was hunting in a dangerous area.
Cannibals captured him and took him to their village.
They tied his hands, stacked some wood, set up a stake and bound him to it.
As they approached to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the king was missing a thumb.
Being superstitious, they never ate anyone that was less than whole.
So after untying the king, they sent him on his way.
As he returned home, he was reminded of the event that had taken his thumb and felt remorse for his treatment of his friend.
He went immediately to the jail to speak with his friend. "
"You were right," he said, "it was good that my thumb was blown off."
And he proceeded to tell the friend all that had just happened.
"And so I am very sorry for sending you to jail for so long. It was bad for me to do this."
"No," his friend replied, "This is good!"
"What do you mean, 'This is good'? How could it be good that I sent my friend to jail for a year?"
"If I had NOT been in jail, I would have been with you and I would have been eaten by those cannibals!"
All things work together for good to those who are in Christ Jesus!"
END...
