November 29th

Your Love Is King

But Ruth said: ...wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried.' Ruth 1:16-17

You can learn a lot about a person by understanding their name, especially in Scripture. Unfortunately, this doesn't hold true for the man our story begins with-Elimelech. His name means, My God is King, but you can see by the way he lived his life that God was not his King.

Elimelech lived in Israel during the time of the judges, but when famine came upon the land, he ran away instead of trusting in God. Not only that, but he ran to a God-forsaken country called Moab, which worshiped false gods and was founded by a man whose mother was impregnated by her father.

Now, you need to know this: God will get us through the storms in life when we trust Him. If Elimelech had made God the King over his life, then God would have taken care of him even during the famine. But he didn't make God his King, and in running away, he actually ran himself into a worse situation.

In fact, he died. He ran so he would be safe, but then he died. And not just him, but his two sons died as well, leaving behind just his wife, Naomi, and two daughter in-laws, Orpah and Ruth. So now we have three widows who are wondering, What are we going to do now?

Naomi decides to go back home to Bethlehem and tells Orpah and Ruth that they should do the same. Return to your families. Get new husbands. Go back and worship your country's gods.

Orpah does exactly as Naomi said, but Ruth refused, and this is the great conversion moment for her. She answers Naomi with our verses today, leaving her old life behind and stepping out to allow God to truly become King of her heart and life.

That's where we have to start. Has God, today, right now, because of this great love that He has for you, been allowed to truly be King of your heart? And if King of your heart, then is He King of your hands?

What does that mean? That means, is His Kingship being lived out in what you now do and live for? He can't just be King of your heart without then allowing your plans and your future and your dreams and your fears and all of it to fall in line with Him being King over all of it.

If God is not King over all, then He's not King at all. Is He King over your life today?

Prayer Lord God,

It's scary to think of letting You be King over my whole life, but I can see from Ruth's story that the real scary place is a life over which You're not King. Please come and be King over my whole life. Lead me and take care of me today and always!

Amen