Week of October 19, 2008 

Ruth 1:1-19

An Isralite woman, Naomi, feels that the Lord has turned against her.  Why?  Because she has endured stark famine in her homeland and fled as a refugee with her family to a strange land where her husband died and her two sons married foreigners.  Later her two sons die, leaving no male heir and making their widowed mother a dependent.  What to do?  Upon hearing that "God had visited his people and given them food," Naomi sets out for home, determined to travel life's journey alone because she bitterly believes "the hand of the Lord is against her."  But one of her foreign-born daughetes-in-law, Ruth, unilaterally pledges unmerited loyalty and fidelity to Naomi and thereby embodies the elusive but attainable hesed (covenant love) which God wills for human rerlationships.

Which of your relationships do you need to work on this week to fulfill God's will?  Pray about it and watch for God to lead you as you practice His covenant love.  Your life will be richer and more rewarding as you do.