A day without praise is a day not lived

Elimelech lived in Bethlehem Judah, but there was a famine. So he and his family left for Moab (Ruth 1:1). Very understandable, right?

You lose it easily

Without realizing it, you can lose the core of your faith. It can happen without you even noticing. Our Christian life is primarily about feeding on Christ the Crucified and praising and worshiping Him and God the Father. we have that elsewhere already described. That is Bethlehem Judah: the names mean 'house of bread' and 'he who praises God'. Those two belong together.

Perhaps Elimelech never realized why he actually lived in Bethlehem Judah? In any case, the difficult circumstances led him to leave there.

The same can happen to us. That we do not or no longer realize what the purpose of our Christian life is. Circumstances can then easily cause us to drift. Eventually you will end up in a situation in which your spiritual life is no longer worth much. It's dead. This happened to Elimelech and his two sons.

You have to keep eating

Life may be so difficult – the famine may be so great – but we have to keep eating. That sounds contradictory, eating when there is no food. Yet that is our own responsibility, because our food is always available. Eating the 'bread from heaven' every day, collecting manna every day, that is what we must continue to do (John 6:31 onwards). Praise God every day, magnify and honor Him for the gift of His Son, for the work on the cross of Calvary. If you don't do that one day, a second day will easily follow. And a third . . .

Magnifying God every day and honoring the Lord Jesus for the work of reconciliation. Not just out of habit, as some sort of ritual. But really think about the Lord Jesus, about what He has done and consciously address words of thanks to Him! You could say:

‘A day without praise is a day not lived‘.

Desire and return

Naomi was left alone in Moab with her daughters-in-law. When she heard that the Lord had given bread again in Bethlehem (Ruth 1:6), she no doubt remembered what God intended. I think she has always known what she left behind in Bethlehem Judah and that the Lord is now calling her to return. She makes a clear decision: she is going back. She longs to eat "the bread of heaven" again and to praise and magnify the Lord.

Revival is very personal

This is the beginning of a new way full of God's blessings. They sometimes say: 'revival starts with you' and that's true here too. Naomi goes back, it's her very personal decision, which you can only make if you really love the Lord. The same was true of Ruth, she too loved the Lord, the God of Naomi. But Orpah went along because she loved people. That in itself is beautiful, of course, but it is not a revival. Then you don't keep it up either and you quit at some point.

A return is a personal decision and brings personal blessing. But God's grace is so great that He also blesses others through it. The blessing in the wake of Naomi and Ruth's decisions extends even to the Lord Jesus Christ, and ultimately to all who believe in Him.

God's Glory in Christ Jesus

How great is the God of all grace! He has called us to His eternal glory in Christ Jesus (1 Peter 5:10). That will be for eternity later when we are with Him, but it can already start now. We may marvel at our Lord Jesus Christ, in Whom God shows us His glory. Let us look to Him every day, feed on Him and honor and praise Him! glorify him.