I have been challenged recently to start to read my Bible cover to cover. The lady gave me a chart. It was a little crazy so I went off the chart and started on my own in Joshua. I am now into the book of 1Samuel. I am not consistent yet. I have heard that you can read cover to cover in 3 days- (3 x 24 = 72)
I guess I could do that too if I was not taking notes. I am taking notes. It is interesting how some stories can take up chapters like Samson, Gideon and other stories barely a verse. But there is one story in Judges that talks about a Levite(a priest) and his journey. Some lady and her son wanted a priest for their home after she had made an idol or two. It is such a strange story- but it takes up about 5 chapters.
I have fallen in love with the book of Ruth. It encompasses many parts of the human journey. The mother- Naomi - older "wiser" and her family- leave Israel and move into the land of the occupier- Moab. Hunger makes people do strange things. By the end of 15 years Naomi is a widow and childless. She is very depressed as she sets out to return to Bethlehem. She feels all alone.
But Ruth volunteers to journey with her mother-in-law. She sees something that she likes in this old lady. She had accepted the Jewish religion as her own. I guess she is sort of like Abraham. Leaving the known to journey to the unknown. Naomi continues to teach her new daughter how great God is. Her heavenly father had provided away in which the poor widows, single ladies, poor families could eat -gleaning. Taking the left-overs from the main harvesters.
Naomi reveals to all of us- 4000 years later the graciousness of the Creator God. Naomi returned to Israel poorer then when she left. She felt that she was being punished. And yet she was being led. Funny how that worked out. Ruth had been married to her son for over 10 years and had no babies. God had closed her womb. God had called Ruth to be the great-grandmother of King David. Ruth was a foreigner and yet she became a part of the holy family tree.
You can read the rest of the story in the Bible. 4 short chapters. Boaz- the most eligible bachelor in the state if not in the whole country as he was rich, smart and single. How did that work in a nation of large families etc. No lady caught his eye. No one stood out as Ruth did. Helping her adopted mom out.
Leaders often do not blend in. Ruth did not blend in. She chose to be obedient to her mother -in-law. She too was hungry and it was now her turn to provide. She choose to submit to God's way and found her way to riches.
I guess I could do that too if I was not taking notes. I am taking notes. It is interesting how some stories can take up chapters like Samson, Gideon and other stories barely a verse. But there is one story in Judges that talks about a Levite(a priest) and his journey. Some lady and her son wanted a priest for their home after she had made an idol or two. It is such a strange story- but it takes up about 5 chapters.
I have fallen in love with the book of Ruth. It encompasses many parts of the human journey. The mother- Naomi - older "wiser" and her family- leave Israel and move into the land of the occupier- Moab. Hunger makes people do strange things. By the end of 15 years Naomi is a widow and childless. She is very depressed as she sets out to return to Bethlehem. She feels all alone. But Ruth volunteers to journey with her mother-in-law. She sees something that she likes in this old lady. She had accepted the Jewish religion as her own. I guess she is sort of like Abraham. Leaving the known to journey to the unknown. Naomi continues to teach her new daughter how great God is. Her heavenly father had provided away in which the poor widows, single ladies, poor families could eat -gleaning. Taking the left-overs from the main harvesters.
Naomi reveals to all of us- 4000 years later the graciousness of the Creator God. Naomi returned to Israel poorer then when she left. She felt that she was being punished. And yet she was being led. Funny how that worked out. Ruth had been married to her son for over 10 years and had no babies. God had closed her womb. God had called Ruth to be the great-grandmother of King David. Ruth was a foreigner and yet she became a part of the holy family tree.
You can read the rest of the story in the Bible. 4 short chapters. Boaz- the most eligible bachelor in the state if not in the whole country as he was rich, smart and single. How did that work in a nation of large families etc. No lady caught his eye. No one stood out as Ruth did. Helping her adopted mom out.
Leaders often do not blend in. Ruth did not blend in. She chose to be obedient to her mother -in-law. She too was hungry and it was now her turn to provide. She choose to submit to God's way and found her way to riches.
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