Bitter or Grateful?

I decided to read the story of Ruth and Naomi in the Bible (Book of Ruth). I’ve read this story before and have heard it many times. Usually, the emphasis is on Ruth and her great display of a servant’s heart. It seems I’ve always focused on the part where Naomi instructs Ruth on how to win the heart of Boaz, by laying at his feet, and how Boaz represents Christ. He was their kinsman redeemer. Today, Christ is our redeemer…The one and only Redeemer of the world. This time, as I read the book of Ruth, I asked God to reveal to me what he wants me to get out of this story, something new about Ruth and Naomi that I may have missed before. This is my new perspective:

Here we have two women, Naomi and her daughter-in-law Ruth, who both went through the same suffering. One, older and wiser, the other younger and perhaps more resilient. They both lost their husbands and family because they had deserted their homeland during a famine, but the one thing I noticed is that they differed in their attitude. This story is about the hearts of two women. In their difficult time, Naomi became very bitter and blamed God for all the misfortune in her life. She believed God was punishing her. In fact she even changed her name to “Mara” which means “bitterness.” Ruth, on the other hand, had an attitude of gratitude. She was still grateful to be alive. She was willing to put the past behind her and do whatever was necessary to start a new life, to build a new future for her and Naomi. And because of her servant’s heart, she chose to stay with Naomi and take care of her. Ruth worked the fields in order to provide for both of them. Because of Ruth’s attitude and faithfulness, their lives were turned around. She found favor in a man of good standing. God blessed her with a husband (Boaz) and they gave birth to a son. Ruth gave her son to Naomi so she would not be left without a kinsman, so the family name could live on. Through this family lineage, came David who became the King of Israel and a man after God’s own heart.

Which of these women do you identify with? Hopefully, we all choose to have the attitude of Ruth. But, I think many of us are like Naomi. We are bitter that our lives are not what we would like, or we have hurts and pains from our past that we are not letting go of, and we’re blaming God, or think that He is punishing us. So, we choose to sit in our bitterness and misery like Naomi, instead of being grateful and thankful for what we do have, as Ruth did.

Deuteronomy 30:19&20 – Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice and hold fast to Him…

The key word here is “choice.” How are you choosing to live your life in 2010?