CREDIT: Nicholas Mutton
Dear Children of God,
The “fork in the road”. Go this way or that? I remember one of my forks, the college choice. I’d been accepted to Colorado and UCLA. Which would it be … California and sunshine, Colorado and mountains? I chose UCLA. It has, to one degree or another, affected me and my life in many ways. I have no idea how life would’ve been different had I decided on Colorado … other than I might be a lot better skier. What I do know is that my choice to take the journey to UCLA led to me being here today. I thank God for leading me to take the fork in the road pointing to California.
The Bible is filled with forks in the road, all of which have tremendous implications on us today. The first was Adam and Eve’s arrival at this fork in the road - follow God’s commandment or listen to the serpent. Their choice affected all mankind thereafter. It affected God too as He went into action to save His creation from their terrible choice.
Centuries later, another fork arrived for God’s people. After her husband died, a woman named Ruth - a gentile from Moab - came to a fork in the road. She could remain faithful to her marriage vows and her mother-in-law Naomi. Or she could return to Moab to start over. Despite Naomi’s insistence that she return, Ruth said, “Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried.” (Ruth 1:16-17) With no idea what lay ahead, she chose to follow Naomi back to Bethlehem.
Because of her choice, Ruth - a Moabite gentile - became the great-grandmother of God’s chosen king, David. And ultimately, the distant grandmother of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:1-17). Through Ruth’s decision at the fork in her road, God eventually redeemed His creation from Adam and Eve’s terrible decision in the Garden of Eden. Thanks be to God for Ruth’s faithfulness to her family and her God.
In Christ’s Love,
Pastor Jim