Thursday 5 Jul 2012

Thursday Reading: Ruth 3:1

Key Verse: Ruth 3:1
1  Then Naomi her mother in law said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee?

Devotion:
As I was searching for scriptures of a father looking out for their children I was directed toward this verse. Since Naomi had lost her husband and Ruth hers there was no longer any father (other than God) in their family so Naomi had to think of things in that light. In this case she is the one that is thinking about Ruth, about the fact that she should find her a husband; after all it was God who said that it is not good for man to be alone (Genesis 2:18).

That is just one small aspect of being a parent – not the fact that we should be going out and finding partners for our children, but that we should love them enough to care for them in ways that they may not think about. I thank God that He has blessed me with parents that love and care for me more than I could imagine; and then I remember that it was God who has made this all possible. He is the one that has set our genealogy in motion and He is the one that continues to develop our environments. How often do we sit back and think of the love that He has for us through everything that He has set in motion around us.

We could turn round and say that we have led a very hard life or that we are going through difficulties that we should never have to face. We could even turn round and face God and accuse Him of not caring for us because of all we have to go through. But then we shall never know what we would have had to face if we did not have Him in our lives! How much has He hidden from us? How much has He swept aside so that we could be more at ease? We are the ones who are living in a life that is full of sin, sinners, and all manner of evil things. We are surrounded by so much that we may not see – both good and bad. God is the one who is our Father looking out for us and making sure that we get to see only what we can bare.

We may only get to hear about things that our parents have done for us, or about things that God has done for us a long time after they have happened. We may not get to hear about some of them at all. We don’t go looking for the good in people and we don’t go seeking what we can do for others often enough because we are too focused on getting the most of what we think we deserve… Take a break… Look and learn…

Points to Ponder:
How much do you like doing for others?

Do you know what God has done for you?