ESOCS Devotional 10 August
TEXT: Ruth 4: 11-22
MEMORY VERSE: “And the women her neighbours gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.” Ruth 4:17
A persons past, tribe, and social status are issues given serious consideration when people are being assessed. A thief, a murderer, a prostitute stand little chance of being accepted or trusted. The society will not give you a chance. In some cases, those who have become Christians are still considered on the basis of their past by others. Tribe is another strong basis of prejudicial treatment. In our present world, where you come from, the color of your skin and your social status are serious considerations in acceptance and social and political positioning. Sometimes too there are people who as a result of what they were and what they have done in the time past feel so unworthy that they think in their hearts that there is no place for them in the things of God.
Ruth was from Moab, a gentile nation. The gentiles were in the things of God considered as defiled, outcasts and unworthy. As far as the average Israelite was concerned, no Gentile has a chance to be reckoned in the lineage of Christ. But God demonstrates in the case of Ruth that all souls are His, all men are His creation and everybody has a chance to receive the fullness of God’s grace and be reckoned among His people. Ruth a gentile woman ended up being the great grandmother of David of whom the Messiah came. How could this have happened? What is it about this woman that made her to enter into the fullness of God’s grace in spite of who she was?
Read yesterday’s ESOCS Devotional here
In what transpired between her and her mother-in-law after the death of her husband in Chapter One, one thing stands out very clear; her wholesale and unconditional acceptance of the people of her mother-in- law and the God of her mother-in-law. She let go where she was coming from, all she was and all she had to give herself totally and unconditionally to Jehovah even unto death (Ruth 1:16–17). This is all God wants from man. Anyone who will wholeheartedly give up his past to follow God unconditionally, He will accept, bless, and give a place and an inheritance among those that are sanctified.
CHALLENGES
- Is there anything that makes fell unworthy in the things of God?
- From the life of Ruth, what do you need to do to overcome it?
PRAYER POINT:
- Lord, today I dedicate my life and my all to thee. May my life give you glory. Amen.
FURTHER READING: Zephaniah 3:1-12; 3:13-20; Romans 3: 1-18; 3:19-31
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ESOCS Devotional 10th August
