Friday June 21, 2024
Theme: “The Conduct of the Christian Widow”
Text: Ruth 1:16-17
16. Ruth answered: Do not urge me to leave you, to return from you! Where you go I will go, where you stay I will stay; your people will be my people, and your God will be my God; 17. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me in all his rigor, if anything other than death separates me from you!
Let's remember:
This speech from Ruth to her mother-in-law Naomi is a great declaration of love; one of the strongest in the Bible. Such a life lesson does not even come from an Israelite but from a Moabite. Indeed, the Moabites were a pagan people descended from Moab, the son of Lot, born from an incestuous relationship with his eldest daughter (Genesis 19.37). The god of the Moabites is Chemoch. Naomi, having become a widow, wanted to separate from her two daughters-in-law who themselves had become widows. Naomi saw no point in forming a trio of widows and walking the streets of Bethlehem, because she was going back there. The lesson of faithfulness that the widow Ruth teaches the widow Naomi is a lesson that should be taught everywhere in Christian morality courses. It comes from a person who did not know the Lord, but who resolved to adopt him as their God; or at least to let oneself be adopted by this God. She decided to remain faithful to the promise she made to her late husband, by becoming attached to her mother-in-law. She decided not to leave her until death did them part. She told him with such conviction that the moved widow Naomi had only silence as a response. The widow Ruth called the Lord to witness, the God to whom she did not pray but whom she believed to be the true God, the God of her future. The widow Ruth intended to end her days without remarrying. But God rewarded his faithfulness by giving him Boaz, a wealthy man from Naomi's family. His faithfulness was rewarded by God. Excellent Friday and good start to the weekend. Amen
Alain Louz.-
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