Your Monday

Morning Meditation

Rev. Dr. Emmette Weir

We all like love stories! Don't we? Indeed, most of the "soap operas" on radio? TV and many of the novels which become bestsellers are really modern love stories, concentrating upon the salacious details and intrigues of the "love triangles" of the main characters!

Well, did you know that one of the greatest love stories of all time is to be found in the bible? Yes, the little delightful Book of Ruth, to be found in the Old Testament, neatly tucked between the Book of Judges and the first Book of Samuel, is essentially a love story, a love story with important lessons for us "in the world today."

It begins by recording that there was a famine in Bethlehem sometime during "the days of the judges."

The famine ironically was most severe in Bethlehem, which means house of bread! A man by the name of Elmelech took Naomi, his wife and their two sons, Nahlon and Chilion, to Moab, where evidently there was abundance, providing for them food and employment.

They settled there and, in due course, their sons married native girls - Oprah and Ruth.

Then, tragedy struck as gradually, all the males in the family died. And so, Naomi decided to return home and naturally, advised her daughters-in-law to remain in their homeland. Well, Oprah did just that! When they approached the border between Moab and Israel, she returned to her home village!

But Ruth made the decision to go with her mother-in-law to Bethlehem. Yes, when urged to remain at home, Ruth expressed her unequivocal determination to accompany her mother-in-law to the House of Bread with these immortal words:

"Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee. For wither thou goest, I will go and where thou lodgest I will lodge; they people shall be my people and thy God, my God.

"Where thou diest, will I die, and will I be buried.

"The Lord do so to me and more also, if ought but death part thee and me."

RUTH 1:16-17

Now, my dear friend, these are amongst the most touching and deeply inspiring words to be found in Holy Write.

Yes, these breathe the spirit of warm affection, unselfish concern and loyalty which is so essential for the growth and development of all human relationships.

Yes, whether it be the relationship between a parent and his/her child, or between a leader and followers or that most intimate of human relations that of a man and his wife, these qualities of affection and loyalty are crucial for its endurance and growth.

And note well that these words were spoken by a beautiful Moabite girl to her mother-in-law.

This is most remarkable for today, it is common for couples to complain about their dislike of their "interfering in laws," especially mother-in-law!

The love story continues. Ruth goes to Bethlehem with Naomi and meets Boaz, a relative of her mother-in-law, who happens to be a wealthy land owner.

Naomi advises her to glean in the field of Boaz and, eventually they fall in love, get married and live happily ever after!

But, that is not the end of the story; by no means. For, according to the text, Ruth became the grandmother of King David and, thus an ancestor of Jesus the Christ, who was born in Bethlehem.

What then is the essential message of the book of Ruth? Well, it was written at a time when there was strong prejudice in Israel against foreigners.

This book, however, tells that even David, the great king had an ancestor who came from Moab, a despised foreign state.

Ruth, you see attained greatness precisely because she was loyal. Whereas Oprah returned home and vanished into obscurity, Ruth, because of loyalty to her mother-in-law, became famous and well respected by all the people of Israel.

In these days when we hear so much about conflict in relationships of broken homes in which children are estranged from their parents and "marriages going on the rocks," it is essential that we all take seriously the lesson of the book of Ruth as we seek to exercise loyalty and concern for the welfare of others in all our relationships.

PRAYER

Dear Heavenly Father, help me to be kind and true in relationships old and new: help me show that love and care to family, friends and neighbour dear indeed, to people everywhere through Christ, I pray. Amen.

MY FRIEND, CONTINUE "TO WALK IN THE LIGHT!