Naomi
said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, "It is good, my daughter, that you go
out with his maids, so that others do not fall upon you in another field."
So she stayed close by the maids of Boaz in order to glean until the end of the
barley harvest and the wheat harvest. And she lived with her mother-in-law. (NASB)
Stay close, be safe. Growing up in a small farming
community where I knew everyone I always felt safe. Then after I graduated from
high school I went away to a college town only 90 miles away. It was a bigger
community, but I felt perfectly safe going where ever I wanted to go. I
remember deciding to go to a movie alone, since most of my friends were out of
town and others I knew in the dorm were busy with friends visiting from their
hometowns for the weekend. I really wanted to see a movie that was being shown
on campus, “Wait Until Dark”. I love
Audrey Hepburn movies —so I went alone. When I was leaving the movie I bumped
into a coworker from the dining hall who insisted on walking me home saying
that I shouldn’t be walking across campus alone in the dark. How sweet, but I
wasn’t afraid of the dark—even after that suspenseful movie. Little did I know
that a girl was raped on campus the night before right where I was going to
walk. I was glad for his company and protection. It is good to be around
others—there is safety in numbers.
It is also good to listen to elders, like Ruth
listened to Naomi. Ruth continued to safely work gleaning the barley and then
the wheat. What a hard worker.
God provides us spiritual safety. There is so much
wisdom that He provides for us in His Word. One of my favorites is from Proverbs
3:5-6, Trust in the Lord with all your
heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge
Him, and He will make your paths straight. (NASB) Making our paths straight
is for us to be agreeable and pleasing, doing the right thing. It’s easy to
“acknowledge” God when we make good choices. By not depending on only what we
know, but considering what God is showing or teaching us helps us to make good
choices. I often pray for my children and grandchildren to “make good
decisions” just in their everyday lives. Little decisions day by day can add up
to being at a crossroad where a major decision needs to be made. That is when
it is good to have made good choices in the past that guide you to making wise decisions
for the future. What could be spiritually better? What choices have you made
today that will shape your tomorrow?
Dear Lord, help us
to make wise choices in all we do and say.
© 2012 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
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