Ruth 2:4-16
Last Wednesday beloved Evangelist Billy Graham fell asleep in the Lord. Many people took to social media and shared how his ministry impacted their lives. It was said that he accepted Jesus as his savior at age 15, preached in 185 countries, refused to do segregated revivals, and led more than 3000 million people to the Lord. Wow, I don’t know about you but I am encouraged by the fruit of his ministry. I am not excited for the numbers itself but for the reminder that what we do for God will continue to open doors for us. I am sure that it wasn’t easy for him to stand up against racists to bring the gospel to everyone. I am sure that there were threats on his life and there were days that his life was threatened but he persevered because his focus was doing the work of the Lord. Yes, he sacrificed time with his family but his legacy was worth it. As we continue our discussion on walking into new seasons, I can’t help but think about the power of our witness. Not the witness that we do on the stand in court or even what we say out of our mouths. Instead I am thinking about the witness we have by our fruit. Like Billy, Ruth left her family and customs to do the will of God by serving her mother in law. She didn’t do this for accolades from man, but she did it because her new season required her to serve in a way she hadn’t before. In those times women stayed at home while their husbands went out to work but now she had no husband and had to do something to care for her mother in law and herself. Ruth’s desire to go out and find work wasn’t because she wanted to get money to increase her wealth instead her act was out of service to the care of her family. How many of us have had to do things because of service to others not worrying about the profit that will come our way? We live in a time when the first question we ask when an opportunity comes is “what’s in it for me?” I know that I have been guilty of this but Ruth reminds us all that doors don’t open because of our desire to have increase, they open for us to serve. Because Ruth had the right mindset Boaz took notice of her and gave her more privileges than the normal foreigner was given at the time. As we reflect on our new season and the legacies of Ruth and Billy, think about your own witness. Is your witness full of ripe fruit that reproduces after its kind or is your witness one of bitter, dried up, sour fruit? Whichever place you find yourself today you have a choice to continue planting ripe fruit seeds or dead seeds, the choice is yours. It is my prayer that like these two trailblazers we would all choose to serve with a pure heart producing ripe fruit.
Prayer:
Father, create in us a clean heart and a right spirit. Help us to neve chase the things of this world but that we would chase you with a servant’s heart. Lord allow doors to open for us because of the pureness of our fruit. If we are producing bitter, sour, dead fruit convict us and show us how to change our seeds. In Jesus Name Amen
In case you missed the video teaching from a few weeks ago check it out now! https://youtu.be/quzTYWvv5vs