Saltshakers
Matthew 5:13a : “you are the salt of the earth”
Vision: to love God wholeheartedly, to serve and preserve one another and to bring flavour to the rest of the world
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Friday, February 02, 2007, 11:21 PM
Ruth Cha 1
During the girls' cell, the lesson was on Ruth. Even though I wasnt very prepared for it, I'm still glad God blessed today's cell and I've learnt quite alot.In Ruth chapter 1, it talks about how this family, Naomi and her husband and two sons choose to run away from the punishment Israel was facing and go to Moab. At that point in time, God was punishing Israel with famine because of Isael's disobedience. Levitcus 26: 18-20 'If after all this you will not listen to me, I will punish you for your sins seven times over. 19 I will break down your stubborn pride and make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like bronze. 20 Your strength will be spent in vain, because your soil will not yield its crops, nor will the trees of the land yield their fruit. '
Israel at that time was in the period of the Judges.
However, it wasnt before long that Naomi's husband died. Her sons married Moabite women, but passed away soon after. So Naomi decided go back to her homeland in Bethlehem, Judah. Her two daughter-in-laws decided to follow her back to her homeland. But after much persuasion from Naomi, who felt that her daughter-in-laws deserved a second chance at marriage and happiness, Orpah decided to go home to Moab. Ruth however, clung to Naomi
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.
And when Naomi went back, the city was excited for them.
Even when Naomi and her family ran away, God still choose to make her part of His plan. Despite punishing her by taking away her husband and sons, God's loved Naomi. In this chapter,
we see how devoted Ruth was to Naomi, it also must have meant that Naomi was a good mother-in-law. Naomi was a powerful witness to the reality of God., drawing Ruth to her and God.
So, we should be encouraged to be good witnesses for God, because it will draw people to want to know more about the God that you serve.