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Today’s Bible Reading: RUTH 1:1-4:12

Ruth 1:16

But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.

Our God is daily on display. Not only through His creation, but in the lives of those who confess Him. We are witnesses of Him. Our life displays Him and our lips declare Him. What we do and what we say reflect on Him. How we handle crisis, conflict and criticism reveals our relationship to our God. How we respond to failure and frustration expresses what we believe about the Lord. Who we love and how we love reflects our intimacy with God. Naomi demonstrated the Lord to Ruth.

Ruth was a Moabite woman. She was a descendant of an incestuous relationship between Lot and one his daughters. Her people were despised by the Israelites. Her family worshiped idols. Yet she married into a family that worshiped God. Still, she didn’t abandon her idols to embrace the Lord. Now with the loss of her husband, she was at a moment of decision. A choice lay before her. She had to determine whether to return to her home and her idols or follow the Lord. (Ruth 1:15).

She decided that she would follow the Lord. She would put aside her practices to pursue Him. She declared her devotion and pledged her allegiance to Naomi’s God stating, “Your people shall be my people and your God my God”. She confessed her commitment to the Lord. Her mother-in-law’s God would be her God. What she had only seen from a distance, she now desired. What she had observed in others became hers. What was evidence in Naomi, she embraced. Rather than being rejected, she was received. Rather than being excluded, she was embraced. Rather than being cast out, she was cared for. The love expressed to her was what she longed for. The God displayed by Naomi was the God she desired and the God she declared.

Here is a truth for us. We may not verbally share our faith but we do visibly share our faith. We may not speak of our faith, but we daily show our faith. People see what we may not share. They are constantly watching what we believe played out before them. Our dogma is displayed by what we do and declared by what we say. There are no unseen and unheard believers. Our faith shows.

Naomi lived a life that displayed her God. Her actions and attitudes evidenced her belief. It was shown and it was seen. Ruth saw it. She knew about the God of Naomi by the life of Naomi. She encountered the kindness and care of the Lord when Naomi openly received her. She felt the love and affection of the Lord when Naomi expressed unconditional love toward her. She saw the Lord in Naomi. It was Naomi’s relationship to Ruth that led to Ruth’s redemption.

We don’t know who is watching us, but someone is. They are looking to see if our lifestyle agrees with what we advocate. They are wondering if the Jesus we declare is the one we display. It is our reaction and response to them that may lead them to redemption. We can push them away from Jesus or point them to Jesus by our practices. Naomi was instrumental in visibly investing the gospel in Ruth’s life. Ruth saw, was stirred by the Spirit and got saved. We may never know if there is a “Ruth” watching us, so it is imperative that we live as if there is. We need to let our light “shine before others that they may see” our good works and glorify our God (Matt 5:16). Naomi did and we should.

Today thank the Lord that someone was a Naomi to you. Thank Him that their relationship with you reflected their relationship to Him. Thank Him that their life lived out the gospel for you to visibly observe. Praise God that they played a part in pointing you to the gospel. Ask the Lord to help you to be a Naomi to someone in your sphere of influence. Ask Him to help you let you your light shine before the “Ruth’ in your life.