Possibly you’ve noticed that it is the natural tendency we all have to believe God is with us and for us, as long as everything is going well in our lives. As long as we are healthy and have money and time and friends, all is well. But when we go through hard times, experience losses, our business goes down or our health fails, sometimes we wonder where God is.

 

The Israelites had many battles with the surrounding nations. On many occasions they defeated the Arameans (Syrians), but those battles took place in the hills surrounding Jerusalem. Because of this fact the Arameans began thinking that the God of the Israelites was the “god of the hills” but not of the valleys, so they came up with a plan to only fight the Israelites in the valleys.

 

Here is God’s response through His prophet:

 

²⁸ The man of God came up and told the king of Israel, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because the Arameans think the LORD is a god of the hills and not a god of the valleys, I will deliver this vast army into your hands, and you will know that I am the LORD.’” 1 Kings 20:28

Notice three points:

 

Point #1: The Arameans limited God in the valley. They in essence believed that God was with His people in the hills, but not in the valleys. This can be a common belief for us today, as well. That God cares for us when all is well, that He is with us when we have plenty. But when we are sick or going through persecution or other struggles, God no longer loves us. This is what it is like to limit God in the valley.

 

Point #2: The Israelites looked for God in the valley. God promised to deliver His people in the valley (“I will deliver this vast army into your hands”), and because of that promise the Israelites were taught to look for Him there. They were taught to watch for His deliverance. To look for His power. To expect His help. This is what all of God’s people should do today, as well. When troubles come, and hardships arise and health deteriorates and friends leave and persecution comes all at once, look to the Lord! Expect Him to deliver. Look for His power and expect His help. God is the God of the valleys, too.

 

Point #3: The Israelites would learn from God in the valley. When God promised to deliver the Israelites in the valley He said, “and you will know that I am the Lord.” The valley would be a learning experience for them, teaching them that God is the God of valleys as well as hills. In the valley they would know the Lord in a better way. And the truth is, we will learn important truths in the valley that we would never learn on the hills.

 

Pastor Hogan reminded us in our prayer time on Wednesday night that Jesus went to Calvary’s hill that God might be with us in the valley. And even if we walk through the valley of the shadow of death we fear no evil, for God is with us. Calvary’s hill guaranteed God’s presence in all our valleys. Amen!

 

May the Lord be strong for you today, whether on the hills or in the valleys.

Do you know that fire that burns within the heart with love for Jesus? Does He consume your thoughts and direct your actions out of the overflow of His love in your heart? Can you just absolutely not get enough of Him?

Or do you merely believe in Him.

Pastor Lockridge didn’t merely believe in Jesus, He loved Him! Read this!

By S.M. Lockridge

I wish I could tell you about Jesus:
He is the First and Last, the Beginning and the End!
He is the keeper of Creation and the Creator of all!
He is the Architect of the Universe and the Manager of all times.
He always was, He always is, and He always will be . . ..
Unmoved, Unchanged, Undefeated, and never Undone!
He was bruised and brought healing!
He was pierced and eased pain!
He was persecuted and brought freedom!
He was dead and brought life!
He is risen and brings power!
He reigns and brings Peace!
The world can’t understand Him.
The armies can’t defeat Him,
The schools can’t explain Him, and
The leaders can’t ignore Him.
Herod couldn’t kill Him,
The Pharisees couldn’t confuse Him, and
The people couldn’t hold Him!
Nero couldn’t crush Him,
Hitler couldn’t silence Him,
The New Age can’t replace Him, and
Donahue can’t explain Him away!
He is light, love, longevity, and Lord.
He is goodness, Kindness, Gentleness, and God.
He is Holy, Righteous, Mighty, Powerful, and Pure.
His ways are right,
His work is eternal,
His will is unchanging, and
His mind is on me.
He is my Redeemer,
He is my Savior,
He is my guide, and
He is my peace!
He is my Joy,
He is my comfort,
He is my Lord, and
He rules my life!
I serve Him because His bond is life,
His burden is light, and
His goal for me is abundant life.
I follow Him because He is the wisdom of the wise,
The power of the powerful,
The ancient of days, the ruler or rulers,
The leader of leaders, the overseer of the overcomers, and
The sovereign Lord of all that was and is and is to come.
And if that seems impressive to you, try this for size.

His goal is a relationship with ME!
He will never leave me,
Never forsake me,
Never misled me,
Never forget me,
Never overlook me, and
Never cancel my appointment in His appointment book!
When I fall, He lifts me up!
When I fail, He forgives!
When I am weak, He is strong!
When I am lost, He is the way!
When I am afraid, He is my courage!
When I stumble, He steadies me!
When I am hurt, He heals me!
When I am broken, He mends me!
When I am blind, He leads me!
When I am hungry, He feeds me!
When I face persecution, He shields me!
When I face problems, He comforts me!
When I face loss, He provides for me!
When I face death, He carries me Home!
He is everything for everybody, everywhere,
Every time and every way.
He is God, He is faithful
I am His, and He is mine!
My father in Heaven can whip the father of this world.
So, if you’re wondering why I feel so secure, understand this . . ..
He said it and that settles it.
God is in control; I am on His side, and
That means all is well with my soul.
Everyday is a blessing for GOD IS!

As I was contemplating in my study thismorning the exclusive way of salvation in Noah’s day, it reminded me of the wayGod has given us to be saved today; and it too is exclusive.

Peter said inActs 4:12: ¹² Salvation is found in no one else, for there is noother name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” Salvation islimited to only one Name, only One Savior, only one Way: Jesus Christ and Himcrucified.

From my study inGenesis this morning, I concluded that there were not two arks, but one ark.Just so there are not two Saviors, but one Savior. And just as there was noother means of salvation except the ark, just so there is no plan for ourdeliverance from the waters of God’s wrath except by Jesus Christ, our onlySavior.

And think of how foolish it would havebeen to try to climb to the top of the highest mountain during the flood, inorder to be saved. Even so, it is foolish for people to attempt to climb thelofty top of Mt. Sinai. They try by their own efforts, their law-keeping, andall of their merits to reach God. But the reality is that they will be drownedfor “²⁰ thewaters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than twenty feet.” Genesis7:20

Oh how true it is today that ¹¹ …noone can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is JesusChrist.” 1 Corinthians 3:11

This is an exclusive way of salvation,and the world hates exclusiveness and worships at the god of tolerance (of allbut Christians). May we continue to glory in, and proclaim to others, thatthere is only one way to be saved, only one Savior of sinners, only one ark,the cross of Jesus Christ.

Ruth 2. Well today I’m excited, because I want to share with you something that we can all participate in. And to do that let’s remind ourselves of what we have seen in Ruth chapter 1. We saw a family in a famine leaving Bethlehem and going down into a country called Moab. There the two boys in the family married Moabite women, and after 10 years all the males in that family died, the father and two sons; leaving Naomi, Ruth and Orpah.

Then someone told these 3 women the good news about God. God had come to help His people, and He provided bread for them in Bethlehem. And that good news had such an effect on them that it drew Naomi and Ruth out of Moab and sent them to Bethlehem. There was power in that good news, power to bring Naomi back home and back to the Lord; power to bring Ruth out of idolatry where she would come to know the living God. And in fact, the entire world has been changed through the giving of that good news, because it led to the birth of Jesus the Messiah.

And this is all a picture of the power of the gospel. Gospel means “good news”; it’s about a God Who has come to help His people. He sent Bread to Bethlehem. Jesus was born in Bethlehem. And He would grow up and give His life for the world as He died on the cross. The Bible tells us that He was condemned in our place, so that all who believe will never be condemned. He was treated as if He was guilty, so that we who are guilty can go free.

And that news is designed by God to draw us out of sin, out of our Moab, and take us straight home to God by believing the good news. The good news is powerful. That is why Paul said in Romans 1:16: “¹⁶ I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. First for the Jews, and then for the Gentiles.” Naomi & Ruth

 And so look at the fact that somebody gave the good news to Naomi. You can see that in vs. 6 where she heard in Moab the good news that God had come to help His people. Somebody told her. Somebody was not ashamed of the good news. And because somebody told her the good news her life was changed, Ruth’s life was changed, and we will see in the future that the history of the whole world was changed. Simply because somebody gave her the good news.

And so I want to introduce you to something that we can all participate in. On the table behind you is good news. There are 100 English Standard Version New Testament and Psalms on that table donated by Jim and Roslyn for us. We are encouraging each one of us, even the kids here, to take one of those Bibles to give to somebody this week. But don’t just give out to anybody. Pray and ask God to bring somebody into your path that He wants to have the good news. Maybe it will be a family member, or a friend or a co-worker, somebody who does your hair or fixes your car or works on your teeth. We’re encouraging you to take a Bible and pray about who to give it to. It’s possible that giving that good news to someone might change their lives. Pray!

 

To begin with this morning, let’s think about what Jesus Christ is like. What is His character? I mean, Christians are supposed to act like Christ, so how does He act? What is Jesus really like? Well we have the whole NT that tells us what He is like, but today we are going to see from the OT what Jesus is like, and we are going to be challenged to be like Him in our daily lives.

Just as a reminder of where we have been; last week we saw a biblical contrast between a believer and an unbeliever. Orpah went back to her old life, back to her family and friends, and specifically back to her gods. Whereas Ruth stated very clearly that she would leave Moab, would live in Bethlehem, would love God and would lay in the dust with Naomi; she would live and die with God and His people. Her decision was made, it was final. An unbeliever cannot/will not give up the past life. A believer cuts it all off and leaves it all behind.

And we finished up last week with Naomi and Ruth coming to Bethlehem during harvest time. We can imagine these two poor widows walking along together toward Bethlehem; Naomi has lost everything of value, and Ruth has given up everything of value. And they are poor and destitute, dragging themselves back to Bethlehem with nothing.

And the very first man we are introduced to in Bethlehem is someone by the name of Boaz. Vs. 1 says “¹ Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, from the clan of Elimelech, a man of standing, whose name was Boaz.” So notice Boaz is a man of “standing”, meaning he had great reputation and wealth and influence in the community. We find that he had a business with employees. He was a man of standing.   

He was everything that these two women were not. He had standing in the community, a good reputation among the people; they had no standing and a bad reputation. He had great wealth, they had no money. He had a business, they were beggars. And we’re introduced to this man as a hint of what is coming; as if to say whatever problems these ladies have there’s a man from Bethlehem with the solution. They were women of starving, he was a man of standing.

And that brings me stop and say, whatever needs you have, there’s a Man from Bethlehem with the solution. In other words, Jesus Christ is the answer to all our needs. See Boaz from Bethlehem is a picture of Jesus from Bethlehem. And if we do as these ladies did, and just leave our Moab and come to Jesus, He has everything we are lacking. He has grace for sin, healing for sickness, comfort for sorrow. He’s got it all!

² And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor.” Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.”

Notice some things about this young lady Ruth. First, she was helpful. She wanted to help with meeting the needs of the family. She didn’t just sit around and do nothing, playing Israelites vs. Moabites on the computer all day long, or “hanging out”, watching Orpah on TV, expecting Naomi to do everything, Ruth wanted to help the family. She got involved. Young people should do all they can do to help the family where they can, in whatever way they can.

Second, not only was she helpful, she was humble. She didn’t mind stooping to pick up leftover grain off the dirty ground. Some people would rather starve than stoop, but not Ruth. And this teaches us that any honest job is a good job. If it is doing an honest day’s work for an honest days’ pay, that is commendable. Young people, make it your goal to be helpful to your family and your church, and to be humble, being willing to do anything to help if it’s honest.

And then we come to an amazing verse. Vs. 3 says: “³ So she went out and began to glean in the fields behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she found herself working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.”

Notice how the Bible says, “as it turned out”, or other versions say she “happened to Boaz’ field” like as if it were coincidence or happenstance. Like she’s just tripping along the road outside of Bethlehem, and she sees this field and that field, and she’s like “eenie, meenie, miney, Moabite” I think I’ll go to that field. Just coincidence that she ended up in Boaz’ field.

Now let’s be clear: if she didn’t “just so happen” to end up in Boaz’ field, you could tell the wisemen not to go to Bethlehem, tell the shepherds just stay out at the fields, because Jesus is not going to be born in Bethlehem. And the Scriptures forecasting His birth in Bethlehem will be proved to be wrong. Therefore the Bible would be shown to be false, and all of Christianity would be a lie. That’s how important it is that Ruth actually end up in Boaz’ field.

You know what this tells us? God was directing Ruth to that field. She chose the field, because God directed her steps. Listen to Proverbs 16:9: “⁹ …a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.” ²³  So let’s make this really clear today and say it like this: God is in control of every detail of your life and my life. Behind all the coincidences, and happenstances, stands a God Who really cares, and Who directs our steps every step of the way.

So here she is gleaning along, and vs. 4 says “⁴ Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “The LORD be with you!” “The LORD bless you!” they called back.” So Boaz is not only a man of standing, he is a man of blessing. Everywhere he goes he shouts out a blessing to people, “the Lord be with you”. How opposite the relationship that people have with their employees/employers today, cursing them behind their backs. Boaz blessed people wherever he went and people blessed him back. So he is a man of standing, and a man of blessing. We’re starting to get to know this Boaz a little bit.

And then Boaz asks a question to the foreman of his harvesters in vs. 5. He said, “⁵“Whose young woman is that?” Or asked the way Boaz asked it, “whose young woman is that!?” Boaz is taking notice of her, he’s got his eye on her. He’s interested in her.

In vss. 6-7 the foreman tells Boaz who this girl is, so Boaz goes over to Ruth to talk with her. And notice what he says to her in vss. 8-9: ⁸ “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with my servant girls. ⁹ Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the girls. I have told the men not to touch you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.”

Ah, now we see that he is also a man of protecting. He calls this outcast Moabite, his daughter. It was probably dangerous for a young woman to be out working in the fields, so Boaz says “don’t go to another field, don’t go away from here. And I’ve told my men they better not touch you. He is protecting her. And people know he is protecting her, if you look in vs. 22 “²² Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with his girls, because in someone else’s field you might be harmed.” “There’s danger out there, but Boaz will protect you, and as long as you stay in his field you won’t be harmed.”

And Ruth is shocked! She is taken back. She has never experienced such kindness. And so in vs. 10 “¹⁰ …she bowed down with her face to the ground. She exclaimed, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me–a foreigner?” In other words, “I’m a nobody, I’m from the enemy of your people. I’m not part of God’s people. Why have I found favor with you?” Or more accurately, “why are you giving me grace?” He responds vs. 11 by saying “¹¹“I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband–how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before.” You know what attracted Boaz to Ruth? He is attracted by the fact that she left her past life behind and had come to trust the Lord, the God of Israel.

So we notice that Boaz is a man of standing, a man of blessing, a man of protecting. But also notice he is a man of providing. In vs. 14 he asks her out for lunch. “¹⁴ At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar.” When she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some roasted grain. She ate all she wanted and had some left over. Look how he is providing for her. And then in vss. 15-16 he says something amazing. ¹⁵“Even if she gathers among the sheaves, don’t embarrass her. ¹⁶ Rather, pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke her.” He is providing more than she could ask or imagine.

And now we are being introduced to a concept that will we will see in the rest of the Book, and that concept is the romance of redemption. Boaz is simply falling for Ruth. He takes notice of her. He protects her. He provides for her. He speaks kindly to her. This is in essence love at first sight. Pastor J. Vernon Mcgee said, “I believe in love at first sight. I asked my wife to marry me at our second meeting. The reason I asked her to marry me at our second meeting is because I didn’t want to rush things.” There is a reason why Boaz is doing all these things, and that is because he appreciates this young lady, and he is taken with her. And so he provides for her.

In fact she has so much at the end of the day that when she goes home she can share some with Naomi. You can see that in vs. 18, she had gathered an Ephah, which is more than half a bushel or about 22 litres. She could hardly carry it all. Reminds me of the verse “He daily loads us with benefits.” She had so much that she shared the leftovers with her mother-in-law. I mean Boaz is literally lavishing Ruth. Pouring out his gifts to her.

And in vs. 19 Naomi wants to know who this man is who is giving all this to Ruth. And when she finds out it’s Boaz she says at the end of vs. 20: “²⁰ “That man is our close relative; he is one of our kinsman-redeemers.” Now Ruth doesn’t have a clue what a Kinsman-Redeemer is because this was a law only in Israel. Ruth doesn’t know that if a woman’s husband died his brother could marry the widow, thereby redeeming both his property and his family. But Naomi has now introduced Boaz as a man of redeeming. He is a redeemer from Bethlehem. That’s next time.

Now take just a second and notice how Boaz is changing the lives of these women. You remember at the end of chapter 1 Naomi was bitter; she wanted to be called Marah which means bitter because she had lost it all and God had been against her. But her bitterness is turning to blessing. Look at the end of vs. 19: “Blessed be the man who took notice of you.” Look at vs. 20: “The Lord bless him.” Those who are bitter from their sin can have their lives changed by the Redeemer from Bethlehem. And then their words are no longer bitter but are filled with praise.

So let’s summarize: Boaz is a man of standing. He is a man of blessing. He is a man of protecting, a man of providing, and most importantly, we’re going to see next time that he is a man of redeeming. I mean He could not be a more perfect fit for these ladies and what they need.

But it’s important to understand that this story is in the Bible to show us the bigger story that is in the Bible. In other words, you and I are Naomi and Ruth. We have gone out into sinful Moab and have lost much while we were there. But we’ve heard the good news that God has provided, and it calls us out of Moab. We turn our backs on our past. And we come to God and His people. And we come back destitute and poor; meaning we have no righteousness of our own, we have nothing to offer God. We are bitter, bankrupt beggars, and we cannot pay for our sin.

But oh my, when we come to God we discover that there is a Man from Bethlehem who is perfectly suited to us. He is a man of standing. He has all the riches of heaven at His disposal.  And we find that He is a man of blessing. Look with me at Ephesians chapter 1, because we need to see the blessings we have in Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1, beginning with vs. 3: “³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. ⁴ For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love ⁵ he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will– ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. ⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace ⁸ that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.” Jesus doesn’t just give, He lavishes grace upon grace. He blesses people with forgiveness of their sins, with new life in Christ. He blesses us with the removal of all guilt and shame. He blesses us with eternal life.

And He is also a man of protection. He says, “stay in my field, don’t go away from Me and I will keep you safe forever.” “Of those you gave me, Father, I have lost none.” “Nobody can pluck them out of my hand.” He is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the throne of God. As Judah said for Benjamin, “My life for his life.” I make myself a guarantee of their safety. He’s a man of protection.

And He is a man of providing. “My God will meet all your needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus.” Never has one child of God ever had to beg bread, because there is a Redeemer from Bethlehem that meets all our needs. Listen to Hebrews 7:26, “²⁶ Such a high priest meets our need”. This word means Jesus is suitable to the sinner. Just like Boaz was to these ladies.

And next time we’re going to see that He is a man of redeeming, as we continue to study the romance of redemption. This is the character of Jesus. This is what He is like.

And I’m going to close by sharing with you two things that God wants from you today. The first one is in vs. 14. Jesus says to you: ¹⁴ “Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar.” He wants to eat with you, to fellowship with you. He wants a date with you. He wants to get to know you. And He has some bread and wine for you. Now you don’t have to look far in the Bible to see that “bread and wine” are symbols of Jesus death. He is inviting you to come and feed on the fact that He died for you, that He shed His blood for you to remove your sin. Come and feed on that! And what do we have to do to enjoy fellowship with Him? He says, “Come over here. Come to where I am. Come to me and we’ll eat together.” That’s the first thing He wants. He wants to eat with you. Open His Word and read and pray and fellowship with Him.

And the second thing God wants from you today is in vs. 18. After Boaz had lavished on Ruth all that, it says “¹⁸ She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over after she had eaten enough.” God wants us to take the good news and share it with others in need. After we fellowship with Him and receive all His gifts we are supposed to go and share. Come to Jesus. Go and tell.

 

Ruth 1. Think with me about the contrast between believers and unbelievers. Obviously believers believe in God and unbelievers don’t or aren’t sure. We might also say a believer has submitted to Christ as their Lord, whereas unbelievers reject God’s authority. Or we could say that believers are those who have received Jesus as their Savior, whereas unbelievers don’t see the need to be saved. And all of those are true. But today we are going to see very clearly the contrast between a believer and an unbeliever, between true faith, and false faith. Let’s pray.

Just to remind us where we are in this story, last week we were introduced to a family; a man named Elimelech (my God is King) and his wife, Naomi (Pleasant), their two sons (Sick and Pining) Mahlon and Kilion. They lived in Bethlehem which means the house of Bread, but when a famine came to the land they decided to go for a short visit to a country called Moab. We mentioned that this family was rejecting the Lord; they were leaving His presence and His people and going to a country filled with idols and false gods. They were rejecting the Lord.

Vs. 4 tells us that their “short visit” turned into 10 years. Elimelech died in Moab, his two sons then married Moabite women, and then both sons died as well. So they lost fellowship with God, lost fellowship with the people of God, Elimelech and his two sons lost their lives, and Naomi lost her husband and two sons. And we noticed that they were simply reaping what they sowed. Anytime we reject the Lord we reap what we sow, which is always loss and death.

But then we noticed in vs. 6 that Naomi was receiving some good news; that God had come to help His people, that He supplied all their needs. And that good news was powerful because it literally drew Naomi out of Moab and sent her back home. If you want to say it this way, that good news was really the power of God unto salvation for both Naomi and Ruth.

And the rest of this chapter shows Naomi returning to the Lord. Leaving Moab and all its idolatry, and returning home to the Lord.

So we saw them rejecting the Lord and reaping what they sowed, then receiving the good news, and returning to the Lord. We noticed how this is a universal story, it’s the story of the whole Bible; that mankind rejected the Lord in the garden of Eden and the human family has been reaping death ever since then. But 2000 years ago God came to the aid of His people by providing Bread. Jesus says, “I am the Bread of Life.” The good news is that Jesus Christ died for our sins to save us from death and hell, to set us free from bondage to sin, and to give us eternal life. And that good news is supposed to draw us to back to God, that we might return home to Him. So Ruth chapter 1 so far has been the story of the human race, the human family.

Now we come to an interesting section of the Book of Ruth where we will be able to see in a word-picture what a believer is, and what an unbeliever is. Now remember that Naomi has heard the good news and decided to go back to Bethlehem. Look what she says to her daughters:         “⁸ Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the LORD show kindness to you, as you have shown to your dead and to me. ⁹ May the LORD grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.” Then she kissed them and they wept aloud.” She’s sending them back to their family, back to their home, back to their old lives, so that they can get husbands for themselves. In 1 Timothy 5:14 Paul says, “¹⁴ I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes, etc.” Well that’s what Naomi is counseling her daughters-in-law to do.

And just notice in passing how much they love her. “Then she kissed them and they wept aloud ¹⁰ and said to her, “We will go back with you to your people.” Look how much they loved Naomi. She had won the hearts of these girls. They were crying and hugging and saying “we want to go with you.” They loved her, even though they had false gods, and Naomi had the true God, still she had been loving and kind, and had won them over to her. And so mother-in-laws, and mother-in-laws to be, it is important to be kind and loving and giving to your daughters-in-law. All too often mother-in-laws and daughter-in-law are at odds with each other. But godly mother-in-laws will do all they can to win the hearts of their daughter-in-laws.

In vss. 12-13 she tells them to go back again, saying that there’s really no hope of them finding a husband if they go with her, so they need to return home. She says it 3 times: Vs. 8 “Go back home”, vs. 11 “return home”, vs. 12 “return home.” And what she is really saying to these girls is “Count the cost.” “Ladies, if you came with me there is practically no chance of a husband and you’d have to give up your parents and all your friends and family and everything. Why it would be like you were dying to your past life.” Remember when the teacher of the law came to Jesus and in all of his zeal said to Jesus, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus didn’t say, “Yay, I got a follower.” No, in Matthew 8 ²⁰ Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head”. In other words, “if you’re going to be My follower do not expect a cushy life of wealth and ease. Of prosperity and success. I don’t even have a bed! Count the cost.”

And in vs. 14 and on, we see this amazing contrast between believer and unbeliever very clearly. ¹⁴ At this they wept again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-by, but Ruth clung to her. ¹⁵ “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.” Orpah has counted the cost. She has considered life with God and His people, but without a husband, without her family, without her friends, and most importantly, without her gods, and she has determined that she cannot leave that behind. The name Orpah means “back of the neck”; the part that shows when you turn your back on someone. In modern times this name has come to mean “Worldly Wisdom.” There is a woman today whose mother wanted to name her after Orpah in the Bible but simply spelled it wrong and came up with Oprah.

See Orpah is only looking at what she would have to give up, what she has to part with, and she cannot do it. Whereas Ruth clings to Naomi, Orpah clings to her gods. And in so doing she loses out on the real God, on His family, and on heaven and on eternal life. In choosing to hold on to this life, she parted with the life to come. She’s just like a man Jesus dealt with whose god was money. And Jesus told him to part with his god, and the rich young ruler went away sad because he had great wealth. He chose to part with Jesus instead of part with his false god.

Is there anything in your life with which you are not willing to part? Is there something that you would consider your “lifeline” that you just couldn’t think of giving up, but you know it is hindering a relationship with Jesus? You see Christianity is not merely believing in Jesus, not merely being baptized, to merely coming to church, it is separating from our entire past life, dying to ourselves, leaving Moab completely behind. This, Orpah was not willing to do, and so she lost her life and her eternity. How do we know this?  

Look with me for a moment at Matthew chapter 10. In this passage you would think Jesus is speaking directly to Orpah. He has a word for her, and He has a word for everybody who is considering what it means to be a believer. Jesus says in Matthew 10: ³⁷ “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; ³⁸ and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. ³⁹ Whoever finds his life will lose it (Orpah), and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it (Ruth).” Jesus is saying, “put Me on one side of a scale, and all your family and all your old friends, and all your past life on the other side.” Which means more to you? In other words, is Jesus such a treasure to you that you love Him more than your family, even more than your own life? Has Jesus become so dear to your heart that couldn’t bear to part with Him, so you part with your whole past life instead?

That’s what the living God has come to mean to Ruth. This previous pagan idolater, Ruth, has found life in the living God, and she cannot bear to part with Him or Naomi. It would feel like ripping her heart out to separate from God and His people. Indeed, she has determined to die to her entire past life that she might gain God and His people. We can see that by reading Ruth chapter 1, these famous words in vss. 16-17:

“¹⁶ But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. ¹⁷ 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 1:16-17

Now that’s commitment. Ruth says, “I’m purposely dying to my entire past that I might live with God and His people.” Notice four points to Ruth’s commitment to Naomi:

First, she will leave Moab with her “Where you go I will go.” I’m leaving my past behind.

Second, she will live in Bethlehem with her “Where you stay, I will stay.”

She will love God with her. “Your God will be my God.” She’s saying, “good riddance to all the gods of Moab, which are nothing but lies. I’m going to adore the God of Israel, the only living and true God, I’m going trust Him, serve Him, and worship Him.

Finally she will lay in the dust with her: “Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried.” Oh now we see that this is a life-long commitment. She has no intention of ever going back. She heard the good news about God coming to help His people, she has believed the good news (because faith comes by hearing), and now she makes a decision to die to her past life.

And so just for a minute, think of each of her four powerful statements as nails that she is pounding into the coffin of her old self. “Where you go, I will go” BAM! “Where you stay I will stay” BAM! “Your God will be my God” BAM! “Where you die, I will die.” BAM! 4 nails in the coffin of her past life.  

And this, and nothing less, is what it means to be a believer. We leave Moab, getting as far away from our previous life of sin that we can. We live in Christ with His people. We love God more than anything or anyone else. And we lay in the dust, meaning this is an eternal commitment: “Now I am His forever.”

Please look with me right now at the Book of Philippians chapter 3. I want us to see Ruth’s commitment echoed by the Apostle Paul. In this chapter, Paul has just looked over his entire past life: all his religion, all his rules, all his righteousness. And here is what he says about it in Philippians 3:7-8: “⁷ But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.” Paul had put Jesus on one side of the scale, and all his past and all his position, and said, it’s all garbage compared to Jesus.This is what it means to be a believer, to look at Jesus Christ and see Him as such a treasure, such a Pearl of great price, that you count your entire past life as rubbish, as trash to be taken out and burned. And that is precisely what Ruth does. Loses her life and gains her Lord. Loses her past and gains a future.

So Ruth 1 vs. 19 shows us two women, leaving Moab behind and going to Bethlehem. The chapter closes in vs. 22 “²² So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.” This was in the Fall, the equivalent of our late September/October time frame. And the fields were ripe for harvest. Maybe as workers sung “Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves, we shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.” Isn’t it interesting that at the time of the harvest, God was harvesting two people from Moab for His kingdom. He was bringing in the sheaves.

But there is one more thought that this chapter presents to us that we have not discussed. We can see in vs. 19 that the whole town was stirred. And they are asking, “can this be Naomi?” And Naomi responds by reminding them of a story in Israel’s history. She says, “²⁰ “Don’t call me Naomi, Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.” Now how does she know that Mara means bitter? Well she remembers a story that happened in the life of Israel as they came out of Egypt. Let’s look at that story together. It’s in the Book of Exodus chapter 15.

Here the Israelites had come out of Egypt, they had just been delivered through the Red Sea and this chapter shows them singing the song of Moses, the song of great deliverance, praising God. They just sang in vs. 21 about how great the Lord is, how He is highly exalted. This is a high spiritual time for them. But watch out after a high spiritual time, temptation is not far behind. And so we come to vs. 22 and we read:  

“²² Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. ²³ When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.) ²⁴ So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?” Exodus 15:22-24

And this is what Naomi is recalling to mind. She’s saying, “I’m just like that water, my life is bitter, it’s been poisoned by my sin and I have suffered great loss. And God’s hand is against me, and I’m bitter. I’m Marah.” But I wonder, did she not know the rest of the story? Did she not keep reading? Look at what God does about the bitterness:

“²⁵ Then Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.” Exodus 15:25

How did that happen? How does a stick, a tree, make bitter water sweet? Did maybe the stick absorb all the bitterness into itself and leave sweetness for the people? Maybe the tree took all of the poison of that bitter water into itself and transformed the bitterness into sweetness. And you have to wonder why God used a tree, a piece of wood to transform the bitter into sweet.

Well it helps when we remember that our first parents ate the fruit of one tree, and that made us all bitter. It is my conviction that bitterness is one of the most damaging cancers to people today. I have seen bitterness destroy a Christian’s joy. I have watched bitterness destroy preachers. I have battled bitterness, and I have watched people battle bitterness over constant rejection or loss of trust in marriage, and their bitterness spreads to many people and defiles them. Hebrews 12:15 says, “¹⁵ See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.”

Many people are defiled by bitterness today they are literally poisoned. But then we read: Galatians 3:13: “¹³ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” When Jesus died on the tree, He became a curse for us. He absorbed into Himself all our sin, taking the poison of sin upon Himself, literally becoming sin for us. And why? So that He could remove the bitter curse of sin from us, so that He could transform our bitterness into sweetness. “²⁴ He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” (Naomi). 1 Peter 2:24.

 

At the cross God’s hand that was against us now turns against His own Son, and His hand goes out against Jesus, so that God might be for us. At the cross Marah becomes Naomi again.

And so look to the cross, and see Jesus absorbing into Himself all the bitterness of Adam and Eve’s sin, all the poison of our wrongs. See Him bearing all our sins in His own body, so that we might be like Ruth and die to sins, die to Moab, die to our past life, and now live for righteousness. And when we come to the bitter waters of death itself, we will discover that they have been made sweet to us, through the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and His overcoming death for us.

See this is why believers can give up everything in our past, because we see that Jesus gave up everything for us. At the cross in essence Jesus said, “whatever was to my profit, I now consider loss that I might gain my people.” 

And so Naomi, if you call yourself Marah now, put your hope in God: in God Who has a special tree, a famous, miraculous, wonder-working tree, whereby all the bitterness of sin was absorbed for you, and you will be transformed and become Naomi—pleasant, sweet, once again.

What is the difference between a believer and an unbeliever? Ruth shows us that an unbeliever will not part with their past life, their “gods” are too precious to them, and so they live in Moab and they die in Moab. A believer has seen too much of Jesus to ever part with Him. And so he parts with his past instead. He surrenders all to the Lord, He leaves Moab behind and lives with God and His people, and He dies with God and His people. And a believer is one who has had the bitterness of sin transformed into sweetness through the power of the cross.

Have you surrendered all to Jesus? If you have I invite you to sing, if you haven’t surrendered all to Jesus maybe you will do so even as you listen to the words of this song.

Ruth chapter 1. I’d like us to consider together, this morning, what life is like for the person who runs away from God, and leaves the church, and just goes out into the world to live life apart from God and His people. What is that life like? And more importantly, how does someone who has run from God find their way back? Our text today describes life when someone leaves God and His people, and then shows us exactly how to return. Let’s pray.

In our passage today in Ruth 1 vs. 1we see that this story took place during the time when the judges ruled, and we see that Ruth follows the Book of Judges. And if we look back one page to the end of Judges chapter 21:25 says ²⁵ In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit. So this time in history was characterized by people living by their own rules, doing what is right in their own eyes.

Then we are introduced to a family in Ruth 1:1-2, a typical family really: a man, his wife, and two sons. They might be any family in America today. Polls tell us that the average family is two people, two kids, two cats and one dog. So here is a typical family living in Bethlehem (which means “house of Bread”). They’re living in the house of Bread. And Bethlehem is in the promised land, the land beyond the Jordan river, the land flowing with milk and honey. The man’s name is Elimelech (my God is King), his wife’s name is Naomi (Pleasant) and their two sons are Mahlon and Kilion which mean “sick and pining.” Probably not the best choice of names for children. Just a little tip from your pastor.

And we see from vs. 1 that there is a famine in the land. Now we know that a famine is caused by a shortage of rain and then the crops fail, and pretty soon the food source is gone. Famines were not very common in Israel, the land that usually flowed with milk and honey. And vs. 1 shows us the way this family handled the famine. They left Bethlehem, went back across the Jordan river, and into a country called Moab. Apparently they thought the grass was greener on the other side of the Jordan.

Now if you remember, Moab was the son of Lot and his daughter, a child born out of incest. He grew up and became an enemy of God’s people. The Moabites were cursed by God, and their land was a cursed land. It has been described in history as the garbage can of the world. So this family left the house of Bread, and went out to the garbage can of the world.

So here we have an example of people doing as they saw fit, doing what seemed right in their own eyes, leaning to their own understanding. There was nothing wrong with Elimelech wanting to provide for his family; he had the desire of any man to provide for and care for the needs of his family. But the problem was where he took them: to a God-cursed nation.

Which brings us to our first point of the passage, this family was rejecting the Lord. See God revealed Himself in Israel, His people were in Israel, and this family left. They left God and His people. What they are essentially saying is, “You are not providing enough for us” so they rejected the Lord and left His presence and His people.

Now they had no doubt been taught the truth of Proverbs 3:5 “⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;” But they didn’t trust in the Lord to provide. This is not the way that God’s people should make decisions. God created us that when things get tough, and we are having difficulties, to look to Him and to trust in Him, to ask Him for help and then wait on the Lord. Not reject Him and rely on our own understanding.

Now in their minds, this is just a short visit. Vs. 1 says they went to live “for awhile” in the land of Moab. They probably got a temporary Visa because they weren’t planning on being gone very long. “We’ll just take a quick trip to Moab and be right back in a few months.” Little did they know, that according to vs. 4 they would be there for 10 years. “I’ll just have 1 drink, I’ll just look at one impure movie, I’ll just sneak 1 dessert on the side” and pretty soon we’re living in it.

And so this teaches us that we must be on guard against discontentment. Watch out when we get tired of the place where God has put us, and we start thinking that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. Because it is this discontentment that makes us want to leave whenever we meet with hardship and problems. And if we leave where God puts us we are rejecting the Lord. We are throwing off the cross that we should be carrying as followers of Jesus.

One of the best things we can do for our kids is to teach them that we’re all born with discontentment and that it makes us want to leave where God has put us. Our children need to see that we’re going to stay even when times get really hard. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 7:20: “²⁰ Each one should remain in the situation which he was in when God called him.” It’s important to learn contentment. Paul wrote from prison in Philippians 4:12 and says “¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”

The first point is that this family was rejecting the Lord. Which brings us to our second point, they are now reaping what they sowed! Notice vss. 3-5: ³ Now Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. ⁴ They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, ⁵ both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband. Little did Elimelech know that just by going for a short visit to Moab, he would die in Moab, his sons would marry godless Moabite women, and then they would die in Moab. I mean this was just a temporary trip, and they ended up living there and dying there. “Sin will take you farther than you want to go, it will keep you longer than you want to stay, and it will cost you more than you want to pay.”

And we could summarize the story up to this point with the words: loss, death. They lost fellowship with God and His people. Elimelech lost his life. The 2 sons lost their lives. Naomi lost her husband her sons. Loss and death. When someone rejects the Lord, and goes out into the world, it is always a story of horrible tragedy and loss and death. You could summarize it by Naomi’s statement in vs. 21: ²¹ I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The LORD has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”

Like the prodigal son who ran from his father and he squandered it all, and ended up in emptiness, affliction and misfortune. This is why Proverbs 23:31 says, “Don’t look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup”, no look at what it produces in your life at the end, not the beginning. Look beyond the beautiful and the sparkling and see all the death and destruction. They were rejecting the Lord, they were reaping what they sowed.

But this story doesn’t end here. When one of God’s people rejects the Lord temporarily, and reaps what they’ve sown, God does not throw them away. Instead, He goes after those who have rejected Him, He seeks the lost, He rescues the perishing, He sets captives free.

This brings us to the third point in our story. We’ve seen Naomi rejecting the Lord, and reaping what they sowed, and now she is receiving some good news. Look at vs. 6: “⁶ When she heard in Moab that the LORD had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, Naomi and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there.” What good news! God has come to the aid of His people. They were in famine, God provided bread. They were hungry, God filled them. What good news this was for Naomi to hear. Proverbs 25:25: “²⁵ Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land.” Naomi received this good news from a distant land and notice that it drew her irresistibly back to God and His people.

And this brings us to our fourth point, that after we see Naomi receiving the good news we see her returning to the Lord. Look at the end of vs. 6, “⁶ …Naomi and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. ⁷ With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.”

This is what is needed with so many people today, they just need to leave the place where they are at, and come home to God and His people. Look with me for a moment at Isaiah chapter 30. In this chapter God is speaking to people who have run from Him, rebelled against Him, turned away from Him, went down into Egypt and turned to idols. And now they are reaping what they have sown. All God gives the solution in vs. 15: “¹⁵ This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.” They were still rebelling.

But Naomi wasn’t. She had had enough of Moab, and all the loss and misery. And so she set out on the path back to God and His people. Isaiah 51:11 says ^“11 Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.” Oh what joy there is in returning. It removes all our sorrow and mourning.   

So notice for a minute just how powerful that good news really was. It literally drew Naomi out of the garbage can of the world, to go back home. It changed her whole life and it changed Ruth’s life. For them, the good news was the power of God unto salvation.

We don’t know who gave Naomi this good news, but because Naomi acted on it her whole life changed. And we’ll see later that she was included in the very line of the Messiah. And everytime you share the good news of Jesus with someone, if they receive it and act on it, they too are put into the line of the Messiah. We should share the good news about Jesus with our Naomis and our Ruths: our family, our neighbors, our co-workers, with everyone we meet. And watch it change their lives, if they act on it.

Now there is an illustration of all of this in the New Testament. A slave by the name of Onesimus ran from his master, and ran right into the Apostle Paul who gave him the good news of the gospel, and Onesimus prepared to return home from there. And it changed his world. The slave became pastor of the church of Ephesus. Share this good news with everybody!

So let’s summarize Ruth chapter 1 up to this point: we see Naomi and her family rejecting the Lord, then reaping what they sowed, then receiving the good news, then returning home.

And really this little story is the larger story of the Bible. The book of Genesis tells us that the first man and woman rejected the Lord, and went out to the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They were discontent with God and what He had given them. They were looking at the wine when it is red, when it sparkled in the cup, when it was pleasing to the eye and desirable for gaining wisdom. Then they reaped what they sowed: they lost the garden of Eden, and thorns and weeds came, death and destruction came upon the whole human family.

But God did not treat them as their sins deserved. And right when they were expecting to be killed, they received some good news. God put an animal to death in their place: a substitute died for them. And then He clothed them with that sacrifice, so that they were no longer naked in sin. And then more good news: one of their descendants would come and fix all that was wrong, and open up Paradise again.

And as they received all this good news, they returned to the Lord. We know that because they trusted in His promise to send a Redeemer to fix everything. They were looking forward to the coming Messiah. They rejected the Lord, they reaped what they sowed, they received the good news, they returned to the Lord.

And this is not only Adam and Eve’s story, this is not just Naomi’s story, this is the story of every human being who has ever lived. We have all rejected the Lord. And we run to some idol, something to comfort us, something to ease the pain and just make it all go away. In our search for comfort we reject the Comforter. And we end up literally starving in our sin with nothing to show for our lives of unbelief and rebellion except misery and loss and destruction and death. We are just reaping what we have sown.

But somewhere along the line right in the midst of our misery, we hear some good news. We hear “God has come to the aid of His people by providing Bread.” What Bread? Look with me at John 6. Jesus is on a hillside in Jerusalem, He has just miraculously fed a multitude, and now He says in vs. 48: “⁴⁸ I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹ Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. ⁵⁰ But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

Oh what good news this is: we were starving in our sin, discontented rejecting the Lord, lost. But God so loved the world that He gave His only Bread, His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will never die. And Jesus gave His flesh to the world when He died on the cross. And look at the good news we get at the cross:

1.      We completely escape God’s wrath! Look at Jesus hanging on that cross and see all of God’s anger and wrath against sin poured out on Him instead of you.

2.      We escape judgment and condemnation. “There is therefore now no condemnation for you who are in Christ Jesus.” Obviously this is because Jesus was judged and condemned in our place, instead of us.

3.      We get complete forgiveness of sins. God says in Hebrews 8 “I will forgive their wickedness, and will remember their sins no more.”

4.      We get our guilt and our shame completely removed. God says in Leviticus 26:13: “¹³I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.”

5.      We get to be reconciled with God the Father.  

Look at all the good news! But that’s not the end of it. After Jesus bore our sins in His own body on that tree, He rose from the dead victoriously. Believers don’t just celebrate the resurrection of Jesus on Easter, we celebrate it every day of every week. And because Jesus rose:

1.      We are completely justified. Romans 4:25 says He was “raised for our justification.” He got condemnation, we got justification.

2.      We get proof that the payment was accepted. A criminal only stays in jail as long as he is paying for his crimes. When he has paid in full he is released. When Jesus rose from the dead it showed that our crimes are paid for, and the payment was accepted.

3.      We get historical evidence for our risen Lord, which compels us to believe in Him. This is historical proof that Jesus lived for us and died for us, because history proves He rose for us.

4.      We get hope for eternal life. Jesus rose, and that’s proof that believers will rise too.

5.      We get encouragement for our souls. Whenever death happens, we remember that Jesus overcame death. He plucked the stinger out of death. Because Jesus rose, “oh death, where is your sting?”

Oh what good news this all is. And I want you to know that this good news is designed by God to irresistibly draw you to Him. Jesus said this very thing in John 12:32 “³² But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” This good news is supposed to draw you to God, and if you won’t be drawn by this, God has nothing else to draw you. The false gospel tries to draw you with the promise of health and wealth. If you just have enough faith you’ll be healed and rich. The real gospel draws you with the promise of forgiveness and eternal life.

But you must act on that good news. Like Naomi you must return to the Lord. And maybe you wonder, if you return to the Lord, will He really accept you? If you’re still in John 6 look at vs. 37: “³⁷ All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. ³⁹ And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.” Have you ever thought that it’s God’s will that you come to Jesus? Have you ever considered that Jesus is mighty to save you, that He won’t send you away?

What is life like for someone who rejects the Lord and goes out into the world? It’s a life of loss and misery and death. What is the way back to God? Receive the good news that God has provided for you in Jesus. Then turn your back on your present situation, leave your life behind, leave all your unbelief, and all your rebellion behind, and just come to Jesus, the Bread of Life.