Creating, collecting, and sharing thoughts and ideas. And learning along the way.
“I loved the afternoon of errands, Mommy!”
For the Love of Tulips (from my garden) and Roses
A Beautiful Sign in My Neighborhood
“Mommy, I love running errands on Saturday!”
My Lilac Blooms Again!
RUTH 2:1-4:22 | JOHN 4:43-54 | PSALM 105:16-36 | PROVERBS 14:26-27
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“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. 12 May the LORD repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”
These are Boaz’s words to Ruth, the foreigner woman that he finds gleaning the leftover fallen sheaves of wheat and barley from his field.
Boaz is a relative of Naomi’s and evidently a very kind man. With a little help from Naomi, Ruth finds favor in Boaz’ eyes, and it isn’t long before Boaz expresses an interest in improving the lot of both Naomi and Ruth, and soon Boaz takes Ruth for his wife. They have a child and name him Obed. Naomi’s friends say this about Ruth to Naomi:
“Praise be to the LORD, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! 15He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.”
And why is any of this significance? Obed is the father of Jesse who is the father of David, and we know of course, how David’s line may be traced down directly to Joseph and Mary, the earth-parents of Jesus. This was the import of these two individuals, Ruth and Boaz.
Turning to our reading in the gospel of John, we encounter the second miracle that Jesus performs: healing the sick son of a local official who approaches Jesus to ask that he come immediately with him to his house. But Jesus simply says to him, “Go, your son will live.”
The man turns around to go home, and it must have apparently been somewhat of a long journey, perhaps an overnight one, because we learn that the next day when he is close to home, his servants come out to meet him to give him the good news: the son is well!
Such was the power of this man Jesus’ words, and such was the great faith that this official had in Jesus’ words!
Our psalm for the day is one that recounts the history of the children of Israel, particularly their time in Egypt and the miraculous way in which they were brought out by the Lord.
And finally, our two verses from the book of Proverbs that are worthy of reflection for the day are these:
26 Whoever fears the LORD has a secure fortress, and for their children it will be a refuge.
27 The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, turning a person from the snares of death.
May God bless the reading and reflection of His Word.
JUDGES 21:1-25 | RUTH 1:1-22 | JOHN 4:4-42 | PSALM 105:1-15 | PROVERBS 14:25
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Following the horrific events of the Levite and his concubine, and the resulting in-fighting between all of Israel against the tribe of Benjamin (who had committed the atrocities with the Levite), the eleven tribes come together to reflect on what all this means to the future of the people of Israel.
They take an oath to not give their daughters in marriage to any man from the tribe of Benjamin because they believe that this would be appropriate punishment, and yet they are remorseful of this decision as they then begin to wonder about the fate of their brothers and how it is that they might propagate.
Well, someone soon comes up with an ingenious plan to find wives for the young men of the tribe of Benjamin, and in a scene that reads like a story out of a comic-book, we learn of how these young men grab the young girls from the other tribes, and while the girls and their families do not protest this, it is a solution to their problem of not breaking their oath of not giving their daughters in marriage still holds true. Their daughters willfully went to be wedded to these young men, you see, they were not given in marriage!
Well, in the end, all’s well and ends well, and we come to the end of the book of Judges. There were evidently thirteen judges of Israel that have had their stories recorded here, Samson being the last one.
We now enter the beautiful book of Ruth. Ruth is a fine example of a loving daughter-in-law. When her mother-in-law tells her to go back to her own mother’s house since her son, i.e., Ruth’s husband has died, and she, Naomi, the mother-in-law is preparing to return to her native Bethlehem, Ruth insists on accompanying her.
And so, she says to her mother-in-law: “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 even death separates you and me.”
Turning now to our reading in the gospel of John, we find the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. Jesus says to this young woman—who expresses great surprise at his request for water from the hand of a Samaritan—“If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
He goes on to tell her: “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
How puzzled this young woman must have been. And yet, she simply asks for this water that Jesus is speaking of. And imagine her reaction and great surprise when this is the exchange that transpires between them:
25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
And so, she runs back to her townsfolk to tell them of this man called Jesus who has just told her that he is indeed the Messiah. And because of her faith and initiative to share her good news with others, the text tells us that many others also believe. In fact, Jesus is entreated by these very Samaritans to tarry with them for a couple of days—which he does.
And the people say to this young woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
Turning now to our Psalm for the day, we find that this is yet another great psalm of praise in which David recounts the great hand of the Almighty, the God of his fathers, who has led them through the ages. David’s words of praise are ones that we ourselves can utter with confidence even as we can proclaim the goodness of God:
1 Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.
2 Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.
3 Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
4 Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always.
Finally, the one verse from Proverbs, is clear in its very matter-of-fact statement:
25 A truthful witness saves lives,
but a false witness is a traitor.
May God bless the reading and reflection of His Word.
JUDGES 19:1-20:48 | JOHN 3:22-4:3 | PSALM 104:24-35 | PROVERBS 14:22-24
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These were lawless times in Israel. With no king, each pursued their own pleasure, worshiping gods of their choice, taking up concubines as they wished, and essentially engaging in a most hedonistic lifestyle. The story of the Levite and his concubine is another most curious one. The hospitality of the woman’s father to her husband who comes to fetch her is in sharp contrast to the outrageous behavior of the Benjamanites down the road who at first demand that the Levite be given over to them, and when the man who is hosting them in his house refuses to allow that, the concubine woman is turned over to the crowd to placate them.
Is this not a replica of the story of Lot and the two angels? O, Israel, woe is to you for the evil that you practiced.
This one event of the Levite and the concubine sparks a civil war between the tribe of Benjamin and the rest of the eleven tribes, and eventually, the Benjamanites are soundly defeated and tens of thousands of them are put to death with entire towns razed to the ground—the prescribed way to purge out the evil from among them.
Turning to our reading in the book of John, we see the brief ministry of John the Baptist. Here is one man who repeated himself for emphasis and effect. He did not ever wish the spotlight on himself, and at every opportunity proclaimed the one who was to come after him as the Messiah.
John says this, 29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30 He must become greater; I must become less.”
Our psalm for the day is yet another one in which David is singing the praises of the Almighty. He says:
33 I will sing to the LORD all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him,
as I rejoice in the LORD.
Finally, a few verses from the book of Proverbs that are worthy of record and rumination. Read each one as a stand-alone verse:
22 Do not those who plot evil go astray?
But those who plan what is good find love and faithfulness.
23 All hard work brings a profit,
but mere talk leads only to poverty.
24 The wealth of the wise is their crown,
but the folly of fools yields folly.
May God bless the reading and reflection of His Word.
