Ruth
Chapter One – Loyal Friends
November 7, 2021
This book seems like an odd fit. There are no epic miracles or battles. It’s a love story for sure, but I think it’s also a book about loyalty and God’s redemption.
We open the story with a moving conversation between an elderly widow and her daughter-in-law, Ruth, who is also a widow. They are both living in Moab, but the older widow, Naomi, has decided to return to land of Israel.
Naomi – the sad mother-in-law
Ruth – the loyal daughter-in-law
Boaz – the wealthy and generous bachelor
Ruth 1:13b-18 NIV
No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord's hand has gone out against me!" 14 At this they wept again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-by, but Ruth clung to her. 15 "Look," said Naomi, "your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her." 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.
The subtle leading of God is a big theme of this book. There are times when God is leading us, and we’re not even aware of his hand on our lives.
It’s God’s plan for each of us to have friends and belong.
Psalms 68:5-6a NIV
“A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. 6 God sets the lonely in families …”
We’re living with over 7 billion fellow humans on the planet, but we’re the loneliest we have ever been.
We’ve become less human and certainly less social.
Do you have good friends?
Are you a good friend?
What keeps us from having friends?
1. We don’t want to be hurt again.
2. We’re too busy.
3. We’ve substituted social media likes for physical presence.
4. We don’t know how.
5. We don’t think we need friends.
So how do we become a good friend to other people?
1. Love them for who they are, not what they can do for you.
Not all relationships are transactional. Naomi couldn’t give Ruth anything but her friendship.
2. Love them enough to tell them the truth.
3. Forgive quickly and believe the best about them.
4. Celebrate them.
5. Invite them into your life.
