Title Road to Bethlehem
Contents
Hymn: Chapter 86, “Jesus I Really Trust”
Meditation: Is the footsteps of my life today closer to God than it was yesterday?
Confession of Faith: Apostles' Creed
Text: “They lifted their voices and wept again, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth followed her” (Ruth 1:6-14).
Word: In the first half of the book of Ruth, there are four men, Elimelech, Naomi, Ruth, and Orpah. They met a famine together in the same place, and the situation was the same. However, under the same circumstances, the path they chose was completely different. Their choices along the road between Bethlehem and Moab are strikingly contrasting, each leaving their own footprints.
First, after a famine, Elimelech leaves Bethlehem and goes straight to Moab. Second, Orpah makes a U-turn from Moab to Bethlehem and then to Moab where he returned to his people and gods. Third, Naomi moves from Bethlehem to Moab and then makes a U-turn to Bethlehem. Ruth was a Moabite woman, but she left her hometown and went straight to Bethlehem. The footprints they left on the same road are different. They symbolize the saved children of God. Orpah and Ruth are also God's people because they married God's people. The sound of ‘shub, shub’ heard over the road between Bethlehem and Moab is used in Ruth 1, 6 times in reference to Moab and 6 times in reference to Judah. It is not easy to judge whether it is to go back to Bethlehem or to go back to Moab because it is being used equally every six times. They each judge and make a decision in front of the voice of ‘shub (go back)’, and then they start taking their own steps.
Today we are walking the path of life without exception. Now we are walking on the road that stretches between Bethlehem and Moab. In the midst of that, we constantly hear the voices of ‘shub’ and ‘go back’. But how do I react in front of that voice? Which way are you heading? You have to judge well. A moment's choice determines a lifetime, or even eternity. Are you going straight to Moab with Elimelech? Or are you going with Orpah for a while and then making a U-turn back to Moab? Bring it back. It's not too late yet. I hope that I can become the protagonist of the journey back to Bethlehem like Naomi. No, I want to leave a trail that goes straight from Moab to Bethlehem like Ruth.
Prayer: Help me to walk on the path that pleases you from the many choices that lie ahead in life. I pray in Jesus name. Amen.