Ruth 1: Repentance and Devotion
This summer, our Bible Bee group is studying the book of Ruth. I love the book of Ruth! (Like, it’s the book I go to whenever I’m really wanting to read a love story. 😉) Since we’re studying Ruth this summer, I thought I’d do a mini series on Ruth this summer. Today, we’re going to be looking at two lessons in Ruth 1, a lesson from Naomi and a lesson from Ruth.
A lesson from Naomi: Repentance
In Ruth 1:1-5, we learn that Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, decided to move to Moab out of Judah because of a famine in the land. While in Moab, his two sons married Moabite women (which Israelites were not supposed to do), and all three men died. Naomi’s family was gone, and all that was left were her two daughters-in-law.
Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the land of Moab, for she had heard in the land of Moab that the Lord had visited His people in giving them food. 7 So she departed from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. Ruth 1:6-7 (NASB, 1995)
Naomi returns to the land of Judah. She is an example of repentance, of turning or returning to the ways of God.
6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. Isaiah 53:6
All of us are like the family of Elimelech; we have all turned aside from God’s ways. Everyone has tried to make their own way apart from God, and our sin has resulted in death. But thanks be to God that He has given us a way to return to Him through Jesus Christ!
The other important thing to realize is that, even when we have been saved by the blood of Christ, we still sin and need to practice repentance. Psalm 32 is a great reminder of God’s love and grace toward us when we repent:
How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered! 2 How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit! 3 When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah. 5 I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah. 6 Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found; Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him. 7 You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah. Psalm 32:1-7
I love how this psalm shows that God takes sin seriously, but He is also our Redeemer, and in Him is forgiveness. Sometimes, as believers, we can become discouraged by the need to repent. I know for me, it is easy to start thinking, I’ve been a Christian for so long, I know a lot of Scriptures, I should be better and try harder next time. But that type of thinking forgets Psalm 32:1, “How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered!” It’s so important to remember that we will always need God’s grace this side of eternity. We are saved by the blood of Christ, and through the power of the Holy Spirit (and not our own efforts) we are sanctified! Let’s remember God’s character and remember that He is willing to extend grace and forgiveness freely to those who repent and return to Him.
A lesson from Ruth: Devotion
After Naomi decided to return to Bethlehem, she tells her daughters-in-law to return to their families instead of going with her (see Ruth 1:6-13). Orpah listens to her mother-in-law and goes back to her family, but Ruth had a different response.
14 And they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. 15 Then she said, “Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16 But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. 17 Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me.” 18 When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her. Ruth 1:14-18
Ruth made a covenant with Naomi to stay with her. She was devoted to her mother-in-law, and she also chose to be devoted to the Lord.
11 The heart of her husband trusts in her, And he will have no lack of gain. 12 She does him good and not evil All the days of her life. Proverbs 31:11-12
Ruth was a woman of excellence (see Ruth 3:11), and a huge part of that was her devotion to her family. She was trustworthy and did her mother-in-law good by going with her and caring for her.
As Christian women, we must ask ourselves what are we devoted to? Are we devoted first to the Lord? Are we devoted to our families? To our husbands (and Proverbs 31:12 says, “she does him good and not evil all the days of her life,” so that means even when we’re single, we can be trustworthy toward our husband, even when we don’t know who he is)?
A woman of excellence makes a covenant with God, to be His daughter and to follow wherever He leads. And she makes a covenant with her family, to be trustworthy and do good for them all her days. A covenant is serious; it’s meant to be an unbreakable promise, something not taken lightly. What kind of covenants have you or will you choose to make?
I hope these two lessons from Naomi and Ruth have been encouraging to you. May we pursue being women of excellence through God’s strength!
With love,
Kelsey
