“Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken;
neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called
Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land
shall be married.” – Isaiah 62:4
Well, the New Year is upon us and with it our New Year’s
resolutions; something about the “out with the old and in with the new”
inspires us to change. Whether it be a
new job, new home, new career, or in this case; a new year. We, like so many before us, will in 2016
resolve to make improvements in our lives.
“I will save more this year.” “I
will lose weight.” “I will learn to play
an instrument.” We settle it within
ourselves to do, or not do, this that or the other. Many of us, if were honest, will not make it
30 days in our resolve; for various reasons, but whatever the reason, it likely
boils down to commitment. If you want
change, you have to be committed to it.
If you want salvation, you have to be committed to God; anything in this
life worth having, is worth being committed too.
In the Bible, there are many “unsung” heroes (if you will). One of those heroes is Ruth. You can find her story in the book of Ruth,
the eighth book of the Old Testament. It
is well worth your time to go and read, but for the purpose of this tract I
will need to sum up. Ruth was married to
an Israelite (God’s people), living in Moab (not Israel), and her husband died.
Her sister’s husband also died. This left Ruth with no husband and a mother
in law. Her mother in law, Naomi, was an
Israelite like her sons and she decided to go back to her people. Ruth, in a move of faith, decided to follow
her. At this point in Ruth’s life, she
could very easily have been termed forsaken by the world’s standards. Her friends and neighbors could look on and
safely assume that she was desolate. He
husband is dead, she is in a strange land, and her only family nearby is her
mother in law. Ruth, a women, in a time
when a husband, children and family is most important; has neither husband, family,
nor children; and on top of all that, she has no way to make a living. I am
sure the people around Ruth thought, what on earth did you do to offend
God? I can imagine the devil sowing
powerful seeds of discouragement and doubt in her heart. The social circle of that day gossiping, and
mocking: “Naomi and Ruth, the forsaken ladies, the desolate ones, Haha! What a pair!”
However, what the world does not understand, what people do not
understand, and what we have to understand: is that God’s ways are not our
ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts.
When Ruth left home to follow God and God’s people; she did not make a halfhearted
“New Year’s” resolution; she made a full commitment. She made a complete resolution to follow
God. She said to Naomi “whither thou goest, I will go; and where
thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:
where thou diest, will I die,” She made a commitment to God. Ruth left everything so as to make the God of
Israel the God of her life. Jesus Christ
left everything so that we would no longer be termed forsaken and
desolate. He delighted in us, he loved
us, and made a complete resolution to save us to holiness. He is the bridegroom who came down from
heaven, took on the form of man, so that we could be married to Him. Marriage is not a blanket proposition, it is
a personal proposition. A groom doesn’t
send a mass e-mail asking all the women in the world to marry him all at once;
no, he proposes to one to take her to wife.
God rewarded Ruth’s faith, she met Boaz, they were married and Ruth had
children. Her great grandson was the
king of Israel! Does that sound like a
women forsaken, and desolate? God
delighted in her, and she was married to God and to Boaz; but it was a personal
establishment rooted in a personal resolution.
The commitment she made to forsake all and follow God is what brought her
the blessing of redemption.
The commitment we make to forsake the world, the flesh, and the
devil is what will bring the blessing of redemption. Jesus resolved to give all and he did give
all. How can we give less than all to
Him?
