A New Family

(Today's reading - Ruth 1-4)

We get a nice break today from the battles and unfaithfulness of the Israelites and instead get to read an inspiring story of some awesome women! Naomi, her husband, two sons and their wives live in Moab. Her daughters-in-law are Moabite women. Over the years, the husbands die, leaving the three women to fend for themselves. Naomi learns that God is providing for His people in Israel and determines to return home.
She asks Ruth and Orpah (her daughters-in-law) to move back home with their parents and find new husbands. Orpah leaves, but Ruth is determined to stay with Naomi and makes the promise...."Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God". Naomi, obviously touched by Ruth's love for her, allows her to return to Israel with her.
She is commended for her decision by the man she will soon marry, Boaz.
Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before.  May the LORD repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” (Ruth 2:11,12) Boaz tells her that God will bless her for the decision she made. She will be richly rewarded for taking refuge under His wings.
Sometimes, when we choose God, there is a price to be paid. We might have to give up old friends. We might have to change jobs. We might even lose family. This is difficult! Without a doubt, it was difficult for Ruth to leave her homeland and all her friends and family to start a new life with God's people. Without a doubt, it is difficult for us to lose relationships. But God promises it will be worth it. Whatever we give up, we are promised that He will replace. "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life." (Matthew 19: 29) When I sit in the congregation of God's people and look around, I see brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers and I know that God has given me family. When I see that they have homes and fields, I know that God has given me homes and fields. When we give up our lives, he restores it to us with His blessings. "Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it." (Matthew 10:39)
God promises us that when we turn over our lives to Him, we will be blessed, but when we try to hold onto our lives for our own purposes, we will lose life.  Intuitively, this seems  wrong. As a human, I think that if I pursue life, that I will find it. If I go for the gusto, I will be happy. Instead, God calls us to give up what ever is holding us back from a proper relationship with Him; friends, family, jobs, whatever it is that separates us from Him. In return, He promises us a new family, a new life, a new way of thinking, a new purpose in life.
May we determine to follow God, whatever the costs and may we grow to understand that God is the rewarder of those that diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6) Ruth demonstrated that leaving her homeland and family to find a relationship with God was worth the costs and found her life when she lost it. Because of her faithfulness, God blessed her to become the great-grandmother of King David. Not bad for a Moabite woman.
What about you? How will God reward you for your faithfulness? How will the future of the church be impacted by your faithfulness? God knows and he has placed you in His family to live out your new life in Him.