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Today's Little Lift

    by Jim Bullington

Do Not Call Me Naomi (Ruth 1.20)
Date Posted: December 8, 2020

We could start this message with the age-old question, “What’s in a name?” Or, perhaps it would be better to just wait and let events reveal the larger question: “Must I let circumstances decide who I am?”

“Now the two of them [Naomi and Ruth] went until they came to Bethlehem. And it happened, when they had come to Bethlehem, that all the city was excited because of them; and the women said, ‘Is this Naomi?’ But she said to them, ‘Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the LORD has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the LORD has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?’ So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. Now they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.” (Ruth 1.19-22).

Life has its way of taking its toll on all who live it; Naomi was no exception. The premature death of her husband as well as the unthinkable – outliving her two sons – had certainly had its effect on her. Perhaps the only good news that Naomi had heard lately was that the famine that had displaced her many years earlier had finally ended. Home sounded good to this hurting woman!

However, as events unfolded she realized she would not be returning to Judah alone. A daughter-in-law by the name of Ruth refused to separate herself from Naomi and made the trek with her to Bethlehem. When they arrived, even as the focus text says, it was the beginning of the barley harvest. Where there had been lack, baskets of food would soon be overflowing; seemingly, joy was within Naomi’s reach. However, when she was approached by the excited women of Bethlehem, she uttered these words, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the LORD has brought me home again empty.”

Behind these words are these facts: Naomi means pleasantness or perhaps bliss. To the contrary, Mara means bitterness. Hear again the sentiment behind Naomi’s words: “The Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the LORD has brought me home again empty.” Naomi’s heart was anything but pleasant or feeling joy or bliss. Her words speak volumes. Life had taken its toll on Naomi and her heart was not in the best of places as a result of the circumstances which had beset her!

Standing three millennia this side of the events, it is easy for me to count Naomi’s blessings for her. First, she was home. Secondly, there was hope that she might reclaim just a part of the heritage which she had left behind. And last but not least, she was accompanied by a daughter-in-law who was devoted beyond all expectations. When Naomi told her daughters-in-law to “…turn back, my daughters, and go,” Ruth responded with the following oft quoted passage: “Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you; For 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. The LORD do so to me, and more also, If anything but death parts you and me.” (Ruth 1.16-17).

Naomi was anything but alone and empty. The best treasures of heaven and earth were right there by her side. She had simply allowed her heart to become bitter by failing to count her blessings. When I think of this story, I remember a line from a song which says, “You can’t control the wind but you can adjust the sail.” Do not allow circumstances to decide your identity! Count your blessings and adjust the sail!

Questions:

1. What events befell Naomi that might have “soured” her on life?

2. Compare Naomi’s reaction to life’s events to that of Job during his time of trial? What are the similarities of the two stories? What are the points of difference?

3. I listed only three of the blessing which Naomi possessed? What others can you name?

4. Does life really make us bitter, or do we make ourselves bitter by the way we react to life? Why did you answer the way you did?

"Point of Reference" from Fred Price

Your Father Knows What You Need Mat. 6:8

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Biography Information:
Jim Bullington - A Christian writer whose insight into the scriptures is reflected in practical application lessons in every article. The reader will find that the Bible speaks directly to him/her through these articles. God is always exalted and His word is treated with the utmost respect in this column.
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