Good afternoon church!

How are you? How is your week going? Have you been wandering lately?

This past Sunday, we started a new series on the book of Ruth, and we saw how Naomi and her family wandered away from Israel (and the Lord) in their doubt and sin.

This is an accurate picture of our hearts when we are not centered on Christ. We are wandering. We are wandering in our doubt, guilt, shame, and sin.

We may feel like we are in control, but we realize that we are actually helpless. We may have a plan for our lives, but apart from Christ, we are left feeling unfulfilled and insecure. We seek after the pleasures of the world, and yet, we feel more empty than ever. We may think we are home, but without Christ, we are wandering.

By God’s grace, we see that the Lord brings Naomi back. She returns to Israel and is brought home. However, her heart is far from home. She changes her name to Mara since she is bitter about her loss in the midst of her wandering.

And yet, throughout the story, she is still called Naomi. Why? It’s because she is not cursed, but instead, she is blessed. She is blessed through the faithfulness of another: Ruth.

Ruth “clung” to her and gave up everything to be with her. We see in this story that Naomi will be blessed through Ruth’s faithfulness.

The Lord is calling us to return. He is calling us to come home. He is calling us to come back to Him. And in Him, we are blessed.

Just like Naomi, we are blessed because of the faithfulness of another: Christ. We are blessed by the One who has “clung” to us and gave up everything to be with us. We can receive the blessing of God, because Christ received the curse of God on the cross. We can be “Naomi,” because Christ became “Mara” for us on the cross.

Now, through Christ, the Lord is calling us home in Him. Have you been wandering lately? Take some time today and this week to come home.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood;

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

-Robert Robinson

Come out to Friday Night Study @7:30pm! If not, see you all on Sunday for Lord’s Day worship! Go in His grace and peace.

In Christ,
Pastor Tim

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