Thought for the Week - 3rd July 2022

Dear Friends, 

During May and June my daily bible study notes (Life with Lucas) have been focused on the Old Testament book of Ruth which began by saying, ‘we could be tempted to think that it is just a love story with a ‘they all lived happily ever after ending’… but Ruth’s story is far more than a simple romance. Here we find tenacious faith in the face of sudden tragedy… and this is a story that shows us God blesses the most unusual people.’ It reminds us that ‘everything can change, especially when God is involved’, and looks at Ruth’s decision to stay with her mother-in-law, Naomi, after her husband, Naomi’s son, had died. The consequences of that decision were to be far-reaching as we read at the end of the book of Ruth that a son was born to Ruth whose name was Obed who became the father of Jesse, the father of David, and we find this list in the genealogy of Jesus himself in the opening of Matthew’s gospel, where Ruth herself if named. Researching our family tree is something that lots of people do and it can be both interesting and fascinating to discover just who the characters are in our family lines – from the great and good to the infamous and notorious. We perhaps miss the impact of finding Ruth’s name in the genealogy of Jesus when we forget that she was from the country of Moab, one of the nations that oppressed Israel during the period of the judges thus creating hostility between to the two nations. But God uses this story to show that anyone can be used of God for his purposes, and as my notes record, ‘As a young widow determined to stay with her mother-in-law, Ruth could never have expected the huge consequences of her decision. When she threw her lot in with Naomi, she was not to know the mighty King David would result… nor would her brain have coped with the idea that, from her family line, would come the King of kings himself, Jesus. For her it was just another day, and a sacrificial and noble choice’. We sometimes never know what the consequences of our words or actions will be, all that God asks of us is to be faithful to our calling to be his representatives on earth, showing the love of Jesus Christ to all we meet and remembering that we have been appointed to bear fruit, fruit that will last (John 15:16).      

Grace and peace,

Neil 

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