Ruth 1:16-17, 2 Corinthians 5:15

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You only live once. So the world tells us. So, get as much happiness out of this life as you possibly can. That seems to be the mentality of our world today. That if you’re not happy in your job, quit. If you’re not happy with your friends, well, find some new ones. If you’re not happy in your family life, in your marriage, get a divorce, because happiness is key. Because you only live once.

There’s a woman in the Bible by the name of Ruth that seems to be living in direct contrast to that concept of YOLO or You Only Live Once. Ruth is this woman who has lost her husband at a young age, and she yet cares for her mother-in-law, who has not only lost her husband, but also her two sons as well. Ruth’s husband being one of them. Yet, even though Ruth’s mother-in-law, Naomi, gives her the right to go back home to her family to maybe find a new spouse, a new husband to marry and be happy and to have kids. Yet Ruth clings to her mother-in-law, Naomi.

It’s interesting to think about what she does that she’s willing to leave her family and her homeland. She’s willing to take on a life of poverty and difficulty. She’s willing to live with this woman, Naomi, who doesn’t want people to call her Naomi, a name that means pleasant, but instead wants people to call her bitter because the Lord has made her life bitter. She desires to do all of that. It seems to be the exact opposite of the concept of YOLO. You only live once. Live your life for your own happiness.

Why would she do this? Well, in Ruth chapter one we hear this about her. Ruth says this to her mother-in-law, Naomi.

But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to abandon you or to turn back from following you. Because wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you make your home, I will make my home. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely and double it if anything but death separates me from you.” (Ruth 1:16-17 EHV)

We hear why. We hear why she would give up on her own happiness to serve her mother-in-law, Naomi. It’s because of a promise she made to God. To the Lord. She had come to know the Lord as the true God, but not only as the true God, but as her own personal Savior. The one who is sending the Messiah into the world, the one who would come to redeem her and make satisfaction for her sins. To give her life forever in his name.

You see, Ruth wasn’t living for the here and now. She wasn’t living for life here on earth and for her happiness here. But she was living for the one who gives her eternal life forever because of the Messiah, her Savior, the one that God was sending into the world. Saint Paul writes in the New Testament concerning this one the Messiah.

And he died for all, so that those who live would no longer live for themselves but for him, who died in their place and was raised again. (2 Corinthians 5:15 EHV)

You see, God encourages us instead of having that attitude of living for our happiness or YOLO, you only live once. Maybe instead YLT you live twice, right? We live here and now, but we also will have life forever in God’s name, in eternity, because of the one who has purchased our redemption, who has paid for our sin and given us the certainty of everlasting life.

So let us not live our lives here and now for our own selves, for our own happiness, but instead to live for the one who has given his life for us, to guarantee us that we will live twice. We will live forever, eternally in heaven. (WWLTWWLFEIH) Amen.

Ruth 1:19-20, Romans 8:28, 1 Timothy 2:3-4

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What sort of things would you describe as bitter? Maybe coffee or beer. Certain vegetables or cheeses. Usually we describe foods that have a sharp, pungent, or even foul taste as bitter.

Would you ever describe a person as bitter though? Maybe yourself or someone you know? When we use that to describe people aren’t we often referring to someone who is angry or resentful because of something that has happened to them in the past? They aren’t so pleasant to be around, are they? Especially because they have this chip on their shoulder still.

There’s a woman in the Bible who even wants to be called Bitter. The irony is that her name, her God given name, means pleasant. That woman is Naomi. Do you remember the story of Naomi? Things go from bad to worse for her. She’s forced to leave her home country with her husband and two sons because of a famine. While they’re there her husband dies and then years later her two sons die. And so, she heads back home feeling like she is left with nothing.

This is what we hear in Ruth’s Chapter 1 verses 19 and 20.

When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?” “Don’t call me Naomi,” she told them. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.” (Ruth 1:19-20)

She felt that God had embittered her life. She wasn’t happy. She didn’t feel pleasant in any way. Do you feel this way? You feel that God is maybe turned against you? Maybe because of a financial situation, because of medical concerns, because of a divorce or death. God is embittered your life. Well is it true? That God has turned against you?

Romans Chapter 8 verse 28. We hear these words.

We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

We hear there that God uses everything in our life whether it might be trouble and hardship or maybe tremendous blessing. He uses it as all for his good purpose. And what is that? Scriptures also tell us that

God our Savior wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:3-4)

God’s number one goal for you is that you make it to heaven. So, at times he maybe permits trouble and hardship to bring you closer to him to cause you to rely not on what you have but on him.

It’s kind of interesting when it comes to bitter things like certain types of green vegetables. What do parents do for their children? Quite often they force them to eat those bitter vegetables, and why? Because they know they’re for their own good. That it’s much better than giving the kids candy. It’s better for their health it’s better for their body to have those vegetables no matter how terrible the kids might think that they taste.

Also, it is true for troubles that God can permit in their own lives. Sometimes he allows it for our good. To bring us closer to him and to heaven. May we understand the way that God can use trouble and affliction for our good to bring us close to him and our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.