What does it mean to love our neighbors
What does it mean to love our neighbors? Loving your neighbors is the symbolic sense to express love of Christians for one another, since all are sons and daughters of the same Heavenly Father. Did you know that God wants you to care about others?
Ruth Goes With Naomi Ruth 1 and 2
At a point where Judah (specifically Bethlehem) did not have a king, some families moved to other areas. One such family was Elimelek, his wife Naomi and their two sons, Mahlon and Kilion, moved to Moab. His sons married Moabite women, Ruth and Orpah. Elimelek and his sons died, so Naomi was all alone. - ----------- BETHLEHEM DEAD SEA - M O A B - -----------
While Naomi was in Moab, she heard that God was helping people in Judah. She decided to return back to Jerusalem. Her daughter-in-laws, Ruth and Orpah wanted to go back with her. As they were on the road headed back to Jerusalem, Naomi told her daughters to return to Moab. She kissed them both good-bye. - ----------Naomi JERUSALEM JUDAH - ----------Ruth Orpah - ----------- DEAD SEA - M O A B - -----------
“Please go home my daughters. I am old. I cannot give you any more sons to marry. ” Naomi The ladies cried some more. Orpah headed back to Moab. Naomi turned to Ruth. “Your sister is going back to Moab. Please go with her. ” Naomi “I am staying with you. Where ever you go, I’ll go. Your God will be my God. I will not separate from you. If I do, may the Lord punish me. ” When Naomi saw she couldn’t change Ruth’s mind, she stopped trying to make her go back. Ruth
The two women traveled to Bethlehem. The town was so glad to see them, especially Naomi. As they greeted Naomi, she asked them to call her Mara. She told them Mara meant bitterness and her life was bitter. They arrived in Bethlehem at a good time. It was time to harvest barley. - ----------- Naomi BETHLEHEM Ruth JUDAH - ----------Barley - ----------- DEAD SEA - M O A B - -----------
Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side of the family. The relative’s name was Boaz. He was a very important man from the family of Elimelek. BOAZ
After Naomi and Ruth found a place to live, Ruth agreed to get food for them by working in the fields. One day Boaz and his servant were observing his fields. Ruth worked in Boaz’s fields. Boaz saw her. He asked his servant about her. The servant told him that her name was Ruth and she returned from Moab with Naomi. After Ruth had worked for the day, she sat in the shade and took a break.
While Ruth was on a break, Boaz sat next to her. He asked her to stay at his field, along with all the other people who worked for him. Ruth was so thrilled to hear him say this. She asked him, "I'm from another country. Why are you being so kind to me? " Boaz told her that he's heard good things about her and how well she treated her mother-in-law, Naomi. He continued by saying, "may God continue to bless you Ruth and Boaz had lunch together. There was a lot of food left over.
After lunch, Ruth returned to the fields to pick up more grain. Boaz told his servants to let her have whatever grain she wanted. Ruth picked grain until the evening. By the end of the day she picked 30 pounds of barley. Ruth carried the 30 pounds of barley back home. When she arrived home, Naomi was there. She gave the left-over lunch to Naomi. When Naomi asked her where had she worked? Ruth told her that she worked in Boaz’s field. She even told her she had received the left-over food from Boaz.
Naomi was so happy to hear about where Ruth worked. She explained that Boaz is a family member of her husband Elimelek. She told Ruth that Boaz's field is a great place to work and she wanted her to continue to work there. Ruth agreed. She continued to live with her mother -in-law.
Loving your neighbors is the symbolic sense to express love of Christians for one another, since all are sons and daughters of the same Heavenly Father. In today’s story, both Naomi and Ruth showed their care for one another. Naomi cared for Ruth by not forcing her to leave her family to return to Jerusalem, and Ruth cared for Naomi by taking care of her when they lived in Bethlehem. Just like God helped these women care for each other, God can help us care for others.
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