Returning Home – Naomi and Ruth.
Naomi is returning home to Israel and Ruth is going with her. Brian explains how important it is for us to also “return home” to the Lord.
Returning to Bethlehem
Let’s pick up the story of Ruth as her mother-in-law, Naomi, is returning to Bethlehem after death and hard times in the land of Moab:
“So, (Naomi) set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, ‘Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return 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. Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. And when Naomi saw that (Ruth) was determined to go with her, she said no more.”
(Ruth 1:7-8, 16-18)
A Shocking Commitment
Ruth’s commitment to Naomi is pretty shocking. Well, it means leaving her own family and land. It means, as far as she knows, a life of widowhood and childlessness. It means going to an unknown land with a new people and new customs and new language. It was a commitment even stronger than marriage:
“Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried.” Ruth 1:17
In other words, she will never return home, not even if Naomi dies. And the most amazing commitment of all is this:
“Your God [will be] my God”
Ruth 1:16
Yet Naomi has just said in verse 13,
“The hand of the Lord has gone out against me.”
Ruth 1:13
Naomi’s experience of God has been bitterness. But in spite of this, Ruth forsakes her Moab religion and makes the God of Israel her God.
Naomi’s Truths
Naomi, however, doesn’t see the pleasant things in her life. True, her husband and sons are dead, but their deaths in a foreign land leave her free to come back to her people and her God. True, Orpah has gone back, Mahlon and Chilion are both buried in Moab; but she has Ruth, who is described as better to her than seven sons.
True, she is very poor; but it is through her poverty that Ruth will meet the redeemer Boaz. True, she has no male child to carry on her name; but the little Obed would, within a few months, be snuggling in her arms, laughing into her wrinkled face and gurgling, “Grandma!”
The Worst That Can Happen
As Naomi’s life shows us, sometimes the worst thing that happens to us can open the door for the best that God has to give us. Can I stop and pray about that right now? Loving Father, help me not to judge your love for me by whether today brings good news or bad. Help me remember that you desire to use my circumstances to make me more like Jesus. Amen.
Ruth 1:22 continues –
“So, Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab.” Ruth 1:22
If you and I have slipped away from God, we can start our return today.
We can tell God we want to return and turn away from what pulls us away from God. Do what 1 Thessalonians 1:9 describes:
“Turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God.” I Thessalonians 1:9
A Place You Have Never Been
If you are not a Christian and you come to Christ, like Naomi you will “Returning Home”, but to a place you’ve never been. One day, you will be in a heaven where none of us has ever been, but which Jesus has been preparing as your home since he left the earth. If you have never felt completely “at home” in this world, perhaps it is because you were created for another one.
If nothing on earth completely satisfies you, it is because there is another world where you can find complete satisfaction. But you must “return” – you must repent – turn 180 degrees – and come to God through faith in the Lord Jesus.
Is returning home an option for you? Why or why not? Contact us at HopeStreamRadio, or comment below.
Brian Stapley
Brian Stapley is the husband of Margaret and “Christian-proud” father of Tabitha, Ben, Jeremy and Joel. He has been director of the Boys JIM Club of America since 1981 and a “JIM Clubber” since 1958, the year he became a Christian. The mission statement of the JIM Club is, “Discipling boys to love Jesus deeply and express him vividly.”
He has been an educator since 1970, primarily as a high school English Teacher. (Don’t dangle your participles.) He has been in fellowship at Scottlea Gospel Chapel, St. Catharines, since 1976 and travels to preach about three dozen times a year, in Ontario and New York State. He is a ventriloquist, in company with Casey, Theodore, Dodo, Grumpa, and a menagerie of others. Also, a bit of a magician.
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Images Courtesy of:
Suitcase – katyveldhorst
Girl with suitcase – nicolagiordano
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