DCLM Daily Manna 2025: DCLM Daily Manna 29 January 2025: A Disastrous Move
Text: Ruth 1:1-5 (KJV)
1 Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehemjudah* went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.
2 And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehemjudah*. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there.
3 And Elimelech Naomi’s husband died; and she was left, and her two sons.
4 And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years.
5 And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.
KEY VERSE: Ruth 1:5
“And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.”
Today in the Word edition of July 19, 1993, published the story of a young film director, Robert Flaherty’s months-long prospecting for iron ore in the Far North. He found neither, but he succeeded in shooting about 70,000 feet of film in his travels. Someone encouraged him to edit the film and make a documentary, which Flaherty spent weeks doing. But just as he finished, a match from his cigarette dropped among the celluloid, consuming the entire film and burning Flaherty badly.
Today’s text tells the story of a family whose famine-influenced and ill-advised decision to move from Bethlehem Judah to Moab ended in incalculable disaster. Elimelech’s misadventure led to his death and the loss of his two sons. His widow, Naomi, returned to Bethlehem Judah empty except with the compassionate daughter-in-law, Ruth.
There are some lessons to learn from this family’s disastrous move. First, is the necessity of prayer before any decision is made. Our text does not show any place where Elimelech prayed before moving his family from the “house of bread” to an accursed stronghold. Not every adverse situation should set us running, without consulting God in prayer. Also, sometimes, we must understand that the grass may not always be eventually greener on the other side. None of us is immune to such consequences unless we diligently consider our ways. Besides praying, we also must seek godly counsel before any relocation decision is made. These days when economic challenges are biting harder, it is not unusual for people to bolt out of a place of downturn only to enter another region’s downward spiral.
This study teaches us the importance of critically, closely, and prayerfully scrutinising our decision to relocate from one place to another. We must enlist proper and proven tools of well-informed counsels spiced with ample personal research weighed on the scale of spiritual, social, and economic viability. We should make no moves that lack the leading of the Spirit of God.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
If our eyes are not on God, we can’t see where He’s pointing us.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Matthew 1-3
Daily Manna 29 January 2025
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