Your God Will Be Mine

Does God play favourites? The Jews are often referred to as God's chosen people. But certainly, they are not the only people God loves. God chose the Jews to be the people through whom the rest of the world would come to know him. Jesus was born into the Jewish race and through him the entire world can come to know God ( Acts 10:34 – 36).

The book of Ruth is a perfect example of God's impartiality. God's grace and his gift of eternal life is open to everyone. Although Ruth belonged to a race often despised by Israel, yet she was blessed because of her faith in God and her faithfulness to Naomi. She became the great grandmother of King David and a direct ancestor of Jesus. This reminds us that no one should ever feel disqualified to serve God because of race, color, sex or national background. God can use all of us to build his kingdom.

God will work through anyone who has an open mind and heart to His will. Down through the years God always has a faithful remnant. People who are true to him no matter what! One reason why I decided to preach on this book is because it is a source of encouragement. It reminds us that God is still on the throne and he is still at work in our world today. And God wants to use you and I to bless others and to build his kingdom here on earth

So Naomi and Ruth return to Bethlehem with sad memories. Naomi remembers the day when she, her husband and two sons left for Moab with high hopes for the future. And now she is returning empty, a widow, almost destitute. In verse 20 she wanted change her name to express the bitterness and pain she felt. “Call me Mara, meaning bitter, for the Lord Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.” It was very common in those days to believe that when people faced hardships and troubles it was because of some previous sin or even God's judgment.

But the dark cloud of affliction had a silver lining. Naomi did not return empty. With her was Ruth, who turned out to be a wonderful blessing. And as the story proceeds Naomi's faith is strengthened and restored. But, first of all she is having a pity- party, feeling sorry for herself. Is there anything really wrong about self-pity? I must confess that it was while I was feeling sorry for myself that I said or did some very foolish things. Self-pity sounds so innocent but can do great harm because it opens the door to all kinds of temptations such as resentment, bitterness, unforgiveness, envy and pride.

Even though life was hard, especially from an economic point of view, God had not forsaken Naomi. Even then He was behind the scenes working all things together for her good. In the midst of her self-pity she seemed to lose sight of the tremendous resource she had in Ruth. If Ruth had not come back with her things would've been much worse. And so in our lives, no matter how bad things seem to be, there is always something to be thankful for.

People did not travel much in those days so when Naomi returned to Bethlehem, 5 miles south of Jerusalem, we read that the whole town turned out to welcome her v.19. They remembered her as the young and beautiful wife of Elimelech, but now they see only the marks of sorrow and advancing years.