Where Will You Go From Here?

Where Will You Go From Here?

Ruth 1:6-18

Imagine that you have been driving for several hours, at some point you see a sign, the sign informs you of the reality that you are lost. You have been driving in the wrong direction for a lengthy period of time. What will you do? Well, this happened to me a few weeks ago. I was following the directions that the GPS had given me (I thought) but some where along the way I turned in 400 ft instead of 500ft. I noticed that my arrival time had gone from 8:00 A.M to 10:30 A.M. I thought that if I just kept going sooner or later I would find a road that would take me back to where I was trying to go. I was wrong. Finally I had to turn around and go all the way back to the point of error and then go forward from there!

This morning we saw the tragic story of Elimelech & his family.They left Bethlehem-Judah for the pagan land of Moab. After arriving there Elimelech died, His sons Mahlon & Chilion marred pagan women from Moab, They dwelt there in Moab for 10 years...The sons died and Naomi was left with her daughters-in-law

Naomi was at a point where she had to decide “where she was going to go” from this point in her life. You may be at that same point in your life. You have taken a wrong turn so to speak …you have walked away from the Lord. You must decide where you will go from here. Will you continue going in the wrong direction or will you turn around and go back to the Father. You may be here and you are lost, you have never been born again. You must decide where you will go from here.

If you continue in your sins and die in them you will find yourself in a Lake of Fire. But you have the opportunity to be born again and receive eternal life. So, I would like to look at this text and ask the question “Where Will You Go From Here?”

There are a few questions I would like to pose to you this evening:

1) For the backslider, “Will You Return Unto The Lord?”

2) For the lost person, “Will You Reject or Receive The Lord?”

For those who are saved and not backslidden… just sit back and thank God for a right relationship with Him! The first question is for the backslider:

I. Will You Return Unto The Lord?

When you have walked away from the Lord there are only two choices continue going further away from Him or turn around and get back to Him. The great news I have for you is that you CAN return to the Father.

A. There Is An Opportunity - v6a Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab. for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the LORD had visited his people in giving them bread.

At this point there was nothing stopping Naomi from returning to Bethlehem-Judah. In fact, for the past decade there was nothing stopping them from returning to their home. She had long been in this pagan land enduring the hardships that came with her situation. I can imagine that there had been many times when Naomi wished she had never left Bethlehem-Judah... There were probably many days when she longed to return home.

If you have ever been in a backslidden condition here are many times when you stop and ask “How did I get here?” “How did I ever allow this to happen?” There are days when you know you should repent and return to the Lord but as we saw this morning “Sin will keep you much longer than you want to stay”

Understand this backslidden friend not only can you return to the Father …IT IS HIS DESIRE FOR YOU TO RETURN! The opportunity is there but there is also an obligation:

B. There Is An Obligation - v7 Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters in law with her; and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah.

I love how this is phrased “she went forth out of the place where she was” She was in a place of wickedness in order to get back home she got up and left where she was. If you are in a backslidden condition you are in a place of disobedience and sinfulness. You have the opportunity to return unto the Lord but you must leave where you are. You must turn from the sin that marks your life.

1) You must realize