Commitment

Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Ruth 1:16

Isn't that a sweet picture? I wonder how long they've been married? I wonder what they've been through? Many would have given up long ago. Did they have more love than the average couple? I doubt it. I think what they have is commitment. Commitment to each other, their family and perhaps to God.

Our verse is often used in the marriage ceremony but actually, that's out of context. A young woman named Ruth is speaking this to her mother-in-law. Why? Ruth's mother-in-law Naomi had come to Moab with her husband and two sons. The boys married Moabite women. In the course of time, Naomi's husband and both her sons died. There were no grandchildren. When Naomi heard the famine was over in Israel, she decided to return home. There was nothing left for her in Moab. She tried to convince the girls to return to their families. One did, but there was no convincing Ruth.

Ruth made a commitment first to her husband, now to her mother-in-law, and to God. She is willing to go to a new country, a new language, and culture, and follow the God her people did not know. She had no promises from Naomi that life would be good. There were no promises of income, a husband or anything. Because of her faith in God, she just knew that following Jehovah was her best option.

God honored Ruth and Naomi's trust in Him. Unbeknownst to Ruth, God led her to glean in a field of Naomi's near kinsman. Through this near kinsman, they were provided with sustaining food. She would soon marry this near kinsman named Boaz and become the mother of Obed. Strange name, but Obed was King David's grandfather.

Ruth went through some very difficult times that would have caused many to throw up their hands and quit. Her commitment to God, her mother-in-law and to her husband reaped great rewards for her and her family. Her greatest reward was to be one of the women in the lineage to the King of kings, Jesus Christ.

Commitment is sadly lacking in our day. It's becoming very unusual to see two elderly people still walking hand in hand. Those who stay committed find great rewards at the end of their journey.

Hey Kids:

Ruth's commitment didn't start with her marriage. It started with her commitment to follow God because of the example of her mother-in-law. She saw Naomi's commitment to God and the strength is was giving her to return to Bethlehem without any promises.

Who do you see setting a Godly example for you?

In what ways is that encouraging you to follow the Lord?

Are you committed to following the Lord no matter what?

Have you made a commitment to read your Bible every day? To pray every day?

Maybe the next step would be to investigate the fruits of the spirit. Galatians 5:22,23

You might draw and cut out a piece of fruit and label it with one of the fruits. Try practicing that fruit for a week and journal your successes and mishaps.

Next week add another fruit. Commitment to the Lord will help you find your way in life and marriage. When you come to the end of your journey you may very well find yourself and your spouse reaping the rewards of commmitment.

Playing by the Rules

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Romans 3:23 

Two of my little boys on their way to share time started a tussle on the carpet. Like a pile of puppies pretending to fight, one got a little too aggressive. I pulled him aside and we had a serious talk in English and his mother tongue. He hung his head and sat on his square. I heard him talking to himself. "I only sinned a little bit." He got up, walked over to his friend and hugged him, "I'm sorry." 

"It's okay," the other said. I couldn't help but smile at the sweet repentance of a four-year-old.BYou know, God doesn't speak to us in Hebrew. He intends for us to know He loves us and cares for us, but He sometimes has to have a serious talk in our mother tongue. He gave Moses the Ten Commandments so the people would know the rules for a happy life. He has those laws translated into all the languages of the world so we know the rules. They were not given because He was mean or overbearing. Rather they are the rules for the best life. 

We wouldn't play a game without first knowing the rules. In most games, there are limits that will exclude you from play. You know - Strike three, you're out! Not in God's rule book. God loves a repentant heart. He wants us to keep on living life to the fullest. He smiles when we demonstrate a repentant heart. 

How's your heart today? 

Hey Kids:

What games do you like to play?

Do you change the rules?

Is it as much fun playing by new rules?

A new game may have to have the rules tweaked, but God's rules are tried and true. They will always give us the best life. 

Do you know where you can find God's rules? Try Deuteronomy 5:1-21.

Blessings,

Gail

Hard Choices

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Isaiah 41:10





When I began to keep chickens, I wanted to raise my own flock. I didn't know how to keep my hens from laying with my setting hen. I hated wasting eggs, so I attempted to sort them without candling them (looking inside with a light through the shell.) One day I cracked an egg into a bowl and there lay a yolk with a few arteries stretching across it with a tiny heart beating.

Oh no. What had I done? I couldn't put it back in the shell. I couldn't keep it warm, and I couldn't throw it in the trash. It was alive and dying before my eyes. Over the next 20 minutes, I watched the heartbeat slow as the egg cooled down to room temperature. I tried to walk away but I always returned to check on it, wishing it to live, knowing it would die. I had made the wrong choice. Finally, the little heart no longer beat. I slid it into the trash, my heart broken.

Jochebed (Exodus 6:20) faced a much harder choice. She conceived a child during the reign of a Pharoah that demanded all Hebrew baby boys be thrown into the river. What if she and Amram disobeyed? Could this child cost her her life? Could it cost Amram's life, the life of her other children as well? It was a hard choice to hide her newborn son but faith in the all powerful, all knowing God gave her the strength to hide him three months. 

When things became hopeless she placed him in a basket in the very river that should have been his death. She couldn't watch so she asked her daughter. Hidden in the reeds, Miriam watched. The daughter of Pharoah came with her maids to bathe. Seeing the basket she sent one of her maids to retrieve it. There she found a crying babe. 

The baby's sister stepped out of hiding and offered to find a nursemaid for the child. Jochebed's baby went home to his mom. 

We are sometimes faced with hard choices. We need to "candle" our choices. Hold them up to the Light. The right choice is often the hardest. 

Please - Choose Life.

Hey Kids:

We are faced with choices every day. Choices to be kind, honest, brave, truthful. 

Have you thought of keeping a journal? 

Keeping a journal helps us reflect on the choices we make and how the Lord gives us the strength to make the right ones. 

Even when we can't write a lot of words, pictures still tell great stories. 

What will your story look like today?

Blessings,

Gail

Rooting for the Underdog

Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Matthew 4:10

We love rooting for the underdog. It's just the American way or the human way.

Even in classical Western literature, there is always an underdog that has a problem to solve. That underdog is sometimes called the Jesus figure, the innocent one who always get the worst of the situation but in the end is the hero. It could be we got the idea to write those types of stories from the source, Bible stories. 

We've been looking at how the Old Testament was a picture of the coming of Jesus, a picture of the birth, life, death, and resurrection of our Savior. The story of Joseph is another story with that message. Joseph was the son of Jacob and Rachel. Jacob's other sons, except for Benjamin born later, were from different wives. Joseph was the favored son. He was given a beautiful coat of many colors. As a teen, he had dreams of being a ruler over his family. There was so much hostility between him and his brothers, his brothers wanted to kill him. Instead, they sold him down into Egypt. 

In Egypt, Joseph was Potiphar's slave. In all he did, he was honest and became the trusted slave until Potiphar's wife had ideas of her own. Joseph would not do wrong because he was trusted but mostly because he wouldn't sin against God (Genesis 39:9). Potiphar's wife Jlied about the situation and had Joseph imprisoned in a dungeon. 

After two years and continuing to serve God and help others, Joseph was brought before Pharoah to interpret a dream. Joseph was then put in charge by Pharoah. Joseph collected enough grain in seven years to feed Egypt and the rest of the known world including his own family. 

When Joseph revealed himself, his brothers were afraid for their lives. Joseph had only love for them. Even after their father died, the brothers begged Joseph not to harm them. Joseph knew all he had gone through because of his brothers was part of God's plan to "save much people alive" (Genesis 50:20). 

Now how is Joseph a Jesus figure? He was His Father's only Son. He was sent first to the Jews, God's chosen people, who rejected Him and had Jesus crucified. Joseph's brothers thought they had sent him to his death. 

Jesus never sinned, though He was tempted. Jesus always did good for others.  Jesus went down into the grave because of jealousy. Think of Joseph going into the dungeon because of the jealousy of Potiphar's wife. 

Jesus came out of the grave and sits at the right hand of the Father. Joseph came out of the dungeon to be Pharoah's right-hand man. Joseph was a savior to all the known world, even his family.

Jesus came to seek and to save. He saves all who call upon His name. Joseph gave food to save the lives of all who came to him. One day all the world will know Jesus came to seek and to save us all. 

They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. Isaiah 11:9

Hey Kids:

Do you like rooting for the underdog? Do you like reading books that have a problem to solve? 

Try finding the Jesus figure in the book you are reading. 

Make a list of the ways the hero of the book is like Jesus. 

Does the main character try to always do the right thing?

Does the right thing always seem to get him/her in trouble?

How is the main character helpful?

How is the problem solved? 

How can you write a story with a Jesus figure? It may just be a witnessing tool! 

Blessings, 

Gail