Message of Hope: God will always give you the freedom to choose. He does not force anyone.
Take the time to read and answer the following questions. If you’d like, you can share them in the comments section of this blog entry. Remember, there are no right or wrong answers. There is no answer key to go to 😉 This is just a way of digging deeper into the Word.
Listening and Learning:
1. Why do you think Naomi would, who believes and follows God, encourage Ruth to return to “her gods”? This seems out of character.
2. What do you think motivates Ruth to leave her people, her sister, and her gods and take on a whole new identity – a new people, and new family, and a new God?
3. Read verse 20-21 again. What could have been some of the reasons why Naomi and her husband left their people in the first place?
4. Last week’s study spent quite a bit of time on questions concerning both good and bad coming from God. In verse 21, Naomi again credits God for both the good and the bad. What additional thoughts or insights do you have about this?
5. Why is freedom of choice so important? 
Living in the Moment 
Good morning! We are into week two of this study. Week two is always the toughest for me. Life gets busy or I’m tired. There could be many excuses. If you are feeling similarly, please don’t give up. So, you missed a few days. Leave them. Start with today and continue on. God wants so badly to spend this time with each of us.A quote from Sarah Young in \”Jesus Calling\” this morning. A true encouragement for me as I woke up exhausted and feeling ‘not enough’: “Do not compare yourself with others, who seem to skip along their life-paths with ease. Their journeys are different from yours, and I have gifted them with abundant energy. I [God] have gifted you with fragility, providing opportunities for your spirit to blossom in My Presence. Accept this gift as a sacred treasure: delicate, yet glowing with brilliant Light. Rather than struggling to disguise or deny your weakness, allow Me to bless you richly through it.”Now for today’s questions:1. Why do you think Naomi would, who believes and follows God, encourage Ruth to return to “her gods”? This seems out of character.This may have been a test of Ruth’s conversion. It would have been easier to return to her family and their god’s, but she was a believer in the True God. Would she follow Him in adversity or continue on the easier path?2. What do you think motivates Ruth to leave her people, her sister, and her gods and take on a whole new identity – a new people, and new family, and a new God?Her motivation lies in her belief in God and the plans and blessings He has for her.3. Read verse 20-21 again. What could have been some of the reasons why Naomi and her husband left their people in the first place?I don’t know if we will ever know. Perhaps they left to help others. Perhaps they left because they were not wanted there anymore. Perhaps they just decided to move for change.4. Last week's study spent quite a bit of time on questions concerning both good and bad coming from God. In verse 21, Naomi again credits God for both the good and the bad. What additional thoughts or insights do you have about this?I like how she seems to just acknowledge it, but doesn’t seem to make a big deal of it. It is fact, now let’s move on with life, seems to be her attitude.5. Why is freedom of choice so important?To comprehend that we wouldn’t have freedom of choice and be mere puppets in the grand scheme of things is too difficult for us, I think.
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Cathy Barkman1. Perhaps she was tolerant. Perhaps Naomi thought – I believe in my God, your people have their own gods and it’s up to Ruth to believe what she wants. – Free choice.2. Perhaps while Ruth lived with her new husband and his family she grew close to God. It appears that Ruth also treasured her relationship with Naomi and had a special bond with her.3. I think they left Judah because of the famine. They most likely moved to Moab so they could feed their family.4. Question five in this lesson may give us some thoughts on the “good and bad”. God gives me free choice. I choose to believe in God and His plan for my life. He allows free choice in my life and sometimes … maybe even often, because I don't take enough time to talk and listen to God, I don’t follow His suggested plan for my life things don’t go as well as they could.5. God wants us to choose Him but that choice may have little meaning if we are made to choose Him. It’s hard to imagine the world if there was no freedom of choice. If there was no choice would God make us all believe in Him, obey Him and the world would be perfect?
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CindyThank you all for your comments. I feel closer to God as I read your thoughts.
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