Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Devotion - Tuesday, February 21

The line which we are most likely to remember from the book of Ruth is the one where Ruth will not listen to her mother-in-law's insistence that she return to her childhood home.  Ruth says to Naomi "Where you go, I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God."

There was a word of warning in a sermon preached at a campus ministry conference.  That warning is the too oft expectation that another would devote themselves in this way; that such devotion might be demanded or expected.  Naomi does not demand this of Ruth, she doesn't even ask it.  She instructs Ruth to do the opposite.

It is Ruth who turns to Naomi and makes this covenant.

Relationships are always a series of covenants.  None of us can demand anything from those who inhabit our social circles.  We and ask things, but demanding usually frustrates us all.  What we can do is state what we intend to do, and how we intend to interact.  We can make our promises and be true to our words.  Our example and our clarity of intent is the way we affect and impact others.

Such a course of action will not always lead to the end we hope.  In too many instances, our honesty and offering are exploited.  But we should not loose ourselves in the exchange.  We should not allow the other to take from us our sense of what is right and proper and admirable.

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