Title (Wood) Plow the field
Contents
Hymn: No. 370 "The Dark Night Will Rest"
Meditation: What is the meaning of ‘parents’ that God has given to us as God’s people?
Confession of Faith: Apostles' Creed
Text: “Ruth the Moabite woman said to Naomi, Let me go to the fields… Naomi said to him, "Go, my daughter." ” (Ruth 2:1-7)
Word: A family is mentioned in the book of Ruth. The family moved to Moab to escape a famine. However, the situation worsened, and the three men have died, leaving only an old mother-in-law and a young daughter-in-law. They returned to Bethlehem alone, but they had no land to farm.
Ruth is asking her mother-in-law for permission to go out to the fields to glean. She is not pessimistic about her situation, resenting others, or staying at home, but rather gets up and goes out into the fields (Ruth 2:2). And in the field, others gather the remaining ears of barley from the harvest. She's doing her best in a frivolous job.
Here in verse 2, the word that should not be missed is ‘grace’. This 'grace' can only come out of the mouth of a person who has faith. With the power of this faith, she grabbed one grace and got up from the difficult situation and went to the field.
From whom did the faith of Ruth, a foreign woman, come from? I got it from Naomi, my mother-in-law and mother of faith. Ruth's mother-in-law was old and had to take care of herself. Although she had nothing to receive, Ruth did not blame her mother-in-law. She thought that she had inherited an irreplaceable and precious heritage of faith from her mother-in-law.
Dear children! What situation are you in now? Have you ever felt resentful about what your parents did for you? Turn resentment into gratitude. If your beliefs come from your parents, thank your parents for passing them on to you. Faith is more precious than gold (1 Peter 1:7).
Children of faith should not blame their parents or circumstances. Let's be thankful that my parents left me a legacy of faith, and hold on to the word 'grace' and go boldly toward the field that unfolds before me. Let's do our best on the field. God will certainly be gracious to us.
Prayer: God, thank you for giving me a precious home. Help me to become a parent who can give my children faith as an inheritance so that they can become a family that fulfills the work of faith. I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Lord's Prayer