Daily Devotion, June 22, 2022

 

Devotion:

Read Ruth 1:11-18.

Ruth’s story of her love and loyalty for her mother-in-law, Naomi, is well known throughout both the Hebrew and Christian communities. In many ways, they are a most unlikely pair. Ruth was from the country of Moab. The people from Moab were looked upon with disdain by the Israelite people of their time.  According to Deuteronomy 23:3, Ruth would have never been allowed entrance into the assembly of the Lord. And then in 23:6, it says, “Do not seek a treaty of friendship with them as long as you live.” So Naomi could have turned her back on Ruth.

But Naomi lived faithfully in her covenant unto God and in God’s covenant with her. She lived her life loving others in such ways that when it came time for Naomi’s daughters-in-law to return to their own families, Ruth said the words which are still familiar today.

“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 even death separates you and me.’” Ruth 1:16-17.

Ruth wanted to not only be connected to the God of Naomi, but also to Naomi. Ruth remained faithful to Naomi in the midst of all of their sorrow in the loss of their husbands. Ruth accompanied her back to Bethlehem for them to make their home there.

The people of Bethlehem had to overcome their own pre-judgments and remember the passage from Leviticus 19:34. “The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”

Matthew 1 tells us the rest of the story. Ruth was King David’s great-grandmother, and she is part of Jesus’ lineage.  From a lineage which was not from just one group of people, Jesus came to be the Savior for all.

Are we living our lives loving others such that others would also say, “your people will be my people and your God my God.”?

Personal Worship Option:

Dear God, help us extend welcome, acceptance, your love and your grace to individuals in our communities, who might feel like Ruth did when she arrived in Bethlehem. Amen.