Friday 25 September 2015

Daily Bible Reading with DragoNate #5

Reputation

Ruth 2

I pray blessings on you as you read.

(v. 3) "So she went out and began to glean the fields behind he harvesters...she found herself working in a field belonging to Boaz..." (v. 10) " 'Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me-a foreigner?' " (v. 11) "...'I have been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law...' "

My Thoughts

Ruth had a reputation for what she had done for her mother-in-law, Naomi. When Ruth's husband, Naomi's son, had died, Ruth stuck by Naomi and left her father and mother and went to live with Naomi and her people, whom she had not known before. Ruth did not know God before, but she was committed to Naomi, which led to her coming to know God.

God led Ruth to Boaz's field to work, gleaning the fields behind the harvesters. Boaz was a relative of Naomi, whom Naomi describes as 'one of our kinsmen-redeemers.' A Kinsmen redeemer is a male relative who had the privilege of acting for a relative in danger or in need. Because of Ruth's reputation, Boaz knew who she was and found favor with her. He let her work in his field and told her not to go work anywhere else, but to stay with servant girls.

The reputation that Ruth had was known outside of just her and Naomi, and this reputation was definitely worth keeping. If you have a good reputation, it is worth keeping as well. You do not want to ruin that. Don't fake anything to keep it, be real and don't let that reputation be destroyed by making unwise decisions. Doing so would be very foolish.

In order to keep a good reputation, you need to maintain it. You need to be consistent and work to keep it. Sometimes you will get a reputation without trying, but if you want to keep it long term, you need to put in that little bit of effort and stay true to how you got in the first place. If you are being fake, it is not worth it. You don't want your reputation to be job, faking who you are all the time.

Also, if you have more than one reputation, maybe in different places. You act one way at Church, then at work, you're different, and both are different from how you are at school, and then there's another one when you're with your friends, and so on. That isn't necessarily a bad thing. Everyone acts a little different with different people or in different settings. That's totally normal. The thing you have to watch out for is that you don't want to be a completely different person in those different settings. If you are formal, polite and generous at Church, but you swear regularly, push others around and are greedy and selfish outside of Church, that's called hypocrisy. That's when there's a problem.

I will leave with this: Remember to stay true to who you are in Christ. You will always react differently in different situations and with different people, but don't let that become hypocrisy. Be yourself wherever you are, whatever you do. God doesn't want you to be fake in any situation.



Prayer Time

Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do. Thanks for reading, Godbless!

1 comment :

  1. So true to be true to yourself. It is very important. Your reputation of the person you are follows you wherever you go, make sure it is good!!!!

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