daily devotional
"Orpah kissed
her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her." - Ruth 1:14
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Both of them had an affection for
Naomi, and therefore set out with her upon her return to the
land of Judah. But the hour of test came; Naomi most
unselfishly set before each of them the trials which awaited
them, and bade them if they cared for ease and comfort to
return to their Moabitish friends. At first both of them
declared that they would cast in their lot with the Lord's
people; but upon still further consideration Orpah with much
grief and a respectful kiss left her mother in law, and her
people, and her God, and went back to her idolatrous friends,
while Ruth with all her heart gave herself up to the God of
her mother in law.
It is one thing to love the ways of
the Lord when all is fair, and quite another to cleave to them
under all discouragements and difficulties. The kiss of
outward profession is very cheap and easy, but the practical
cleaving to the Lord, which must show itself in holy decision
for truth and holiness, is not so small a matter. How stands
the case with us, is our heart fixed upon Jesus, is the
sacrifice bound with cords to the horns of the altar? Have we
counted the cost, and are we solemnly ready to suffer all
worldly loss for the Master's sake? The after gain will be an
abundant recompense, for Egypt's treasures are not to be
compared with the glory to be revealed.
Orpah is heard
of no more; in glorious ease and idolatrous pleasure her life
melts into the gloom of death; but Ruth lives in history and
in heaven, for grace has placed her in the noble line whence
sprung the King of kings. Blessed among women shall those be
who for Christ's sake can renounce all; but forgotten and
worse than forgotten shall those be who in the hour of
temptation do violence to conscience and turn back unto the
world. O that this morning we may not be content with the form
of devotion, which may be no better than Orpah's kiss, but may
the Holy Spirit work in us a cleaving of our whole heart to
our Lord Jesus. < /DIV>
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"And lay thy
foundations with sapphires." - Isaiah 54:11 |
Not only that which is seen of the
church of God, but that which is unseen, is fair and precious.
Foundations are out of sight, and so long as they are firm it
is not expected that they should be valuable; but in Jehovah's
work everything is of a piece, nothing slurred, nothing mean.
The deep foundations of the work of grace are as sapphires for
preciousness, no human mind is able to measure their glory.
We build upon the covenant of grace, which is firmer
than adamant, and as enduring as jewels upon which age spends
itself in vain. Sapphire foundations are eternal, and the
covenant abides throughout the lifetime of the Almighty.
Another foundation is the person of the Lord Jesus, which is
clear and spotless, everlasting and beautiful as the sapphire;
blending in one the deep blue of earth's ever rolling ocean
and the azure of its all embracing sky.
Once might our
Lord have been likened to the ruby as he stood covered with
his own blood, but n ow we see him radiant with the soft blue
of love, love abounding, deep, eternal. Our eternal hopes are
built upon the justice and the faithfulness of God, which are
clear and cloudless as the sapphire. We are not saved by a
compromise, by mercy defeating justice, or law suspending its
operations; no, we defy the eagle's eye to detect a flaw in
the groundwork of our confidence-our foundation is of
sapphire, and will endure the fire.
The Lord himself
has laid the foundation of his people's hopes. It is matter
for grave enquiry whether our hopes are built upon such a
basis. Good works and ceremonies are not a foundation of
sapphires, but of wood, hay, and stubble; neither are they
laid by God, but by our own conceit.
Foundations will
all be tried ere long: woe unto him whose lofty tower shall
come down with a crash, because based on a quicksand. He who
is built on sapphires may await storm or fire with equanimity,
for he shall abide the test.
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