Start Fresh with Your Mother in Law

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January 28-29
No, this is not a lecture on being nice to your mother in law. It is a look back at one of the dearest fresh starts in the Bible...the story of Ruth and Naomi. The book of Ruth is a quick read if you want to get the whole context. Naomi and her husband left their homeland in Judah, because of a famine, and moved to a foreign land where their sons ended up marrying foreign wives. Naomi's husband dies and then the two sons die, leaving the three widows from two generations. Naomi, instructs her daughter in laws to move back with their Moabite families and she is returning to Judah. In the end, one daughter in law goes back to her family, but Ruth chooses to stick by her mother in law. Ruth loved not only her mother in law, but the God her mother in law served.
But Ruth said, "Don't force me to leave you; don't make me go home. Where you go, I go; and where you live, I'll live. Your people are my people, your God is my god; where you die, I'll die, and that's where I'll be buried, so help me God—not even death itself is going to come between us! Ruth 1:16-17
Ruth realized the best fresh starts are the ones with God and worth the risk. Sounds like she would have agreed with Paul who said in Philippians 1:21
For to me, to live is Christ, to die is gain.

Pray:
God, You are our Dwelling Place. Whether we are on the mountain top, sailing out at sea, or drudging through the desert, knowing Jesus allows us to be at home. Help us to be content wherever You have placed us at the time and watch for the wonder of Your ways at that time.
Keep us close, even when we feel far away. In Jesus' Name, Amen

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