Ruth Truth 3: Will you flee or cling?

"...and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her." Ruth 1:14

As mentioned previously, names are very significant in the Bible. They often give us deeper insights into meanings etc. Here, Orpah means gazelle whilst Ruth means friendship.  Remember Elimelech and his 2 sons have now all died, leaving behind 3 widows, Naomi, Orpah and Ruth. In those days, it was bad enough to have a famine. As a widow, you literally have no one to take care of you and will often be bullied. 

Although Orpah initially said she wanted to stay with Naomi, her actions proved otherwise, living up to her name and fleeing like a gazelle back to her own people. She might have SAID one thing, but her ACTIONS proved another. 

Ruth, on the other hand, extended the hand of friendship to Naomi. It meant forsaking her own people (the Moabites) to live in a foreign land. Talk about commitment!

But I do wonder. What was in her HEART? Her actions reveal a really beautiful person inside. Someone who would put others ahead of her own needs. I don't know if you fully grasp the severity of the situation. In those days, widows, without a husband, without land to provide, sometimes ended up as prostitutes just to stay alive, or beg on the streets. Because what else could they do? Crude, but that was the reality. 

So we have 2 contrasting personalities here. How does this relate to our main topic, faith and finance? We often hear in Christianity "Blessed to be a blessing". The challenge for you, and for me, would be this. Is it something we SAY, or something we will actually DO.

I am reminded of a phrase I have heard Joseph Prince quote often and it is so true. "Don't love money and use people. Use money and love people."

Who are you loving and offering friendship to today?

Bless you!