Thank you so much for joining me for The Gospel of Ruth book discussion. It mirrors the gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John by revealing the truth that Christianity is a relational faith. Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz remind us that knowing God is of paramount importance. To know God is to love him. Jesus summed it up by commanding us to love God and love others.
The book opens with an Introduction entitled, “What Women Want to Know.”
Here are a few take-aways that women need to know about relationships:
1. You could be a widow, and the church’s treatment of widows says a lot about how we live out the gospel. We need widows and widows need us.
2. We need strong, faithful, and God-honoring Men. When faced with the question, “What should I look for in a man?” Boaz presents an important historical figure to study.
We talked about growing our relationships through mutual submission, mentoring, love, and closed with a discussion of the “Power of Hesed, which sums up the ideal lifestyle of God’s people (pg. 115).”
In summary, The Gospel of Ruth reminds us that God is the true hero of our stories. Our mission, like that of Ruth and Naomi, is to center ourselves on him, to trust him, and to advance his kingdom, while remembering that God’s design from creation is for men and women to serve him together (pg. 31).
Fully committing to God’s hesed call to action can be difficult. Ruth and Naomi’s journey was filled with suffering, yet they pressed on. Once Ruth proclaimed to Naomi, “Your people will be my people and your God will be my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me (Ruth 1:16b-17 NIV),” she moved forward boldly with her faith in Yahweh no matter what it cost her!
God has revealed through Ruth’s journey that he does use sinful, fallen, fragile, and broken people to fulfill his good purposes for this world. He can use you too.
What are some areas in your life where you need to be bolder for God’s kingdom?
© Natasha S. Robinson 2011
A SISTA'S JOURNEY 