重回故国
路得记一章19至22节
19于是二人同行，来到伯利恒。他们到了伯利恒，合城的人就都惊讶。妇女们说：这是拿俄米吗？
20拿俄米对他们说：不要叫我拿俄米（就是甜的意思），要叫我玛拉（就是苦的意思），因为全能者使我受了大苦。
21我满满地出去，耶和华使我空空地回来。耶和华降祸与我，全能者使我受苦。既是这样，你们为何还叫我拿俄米呢？
22拿俄米和他儿妇摩押女子路得，从摩押地回来到伯利恒，正是动手割大麦的时候。
信息分享
第19节给我们描绘了一幅美丽的景象：「「于是二人同行，来到伯利恒」。伯利恒，也就是日后的大卫王和我们救主耶稣的出生地。
小镇的居民见拿俄米久别重临，无不感到惊讶，可是，过往认识她的乡亲却难辨她的样貌。除了是岁月催人老之外，拿俄米的坎坷经历也当然使她更见衰老。我们今天也是一样。一个离弃主而在世界打滚浮沉的人，必历尽人生的沧桑，在心灵与外貌上都留下不能磨灭的烙印。
拿俄米说神使她受苦，然而，她所受的苦，究竟是从神而来，还是因为她与丈夫的决定造成？他们离开神为祂子民所预备的地方，因而深受其苦。
在耶稣比喻中的那个浪子，当到了山穷水尽，要去替人看猪的凄凉境况，究竟是谁的责任？当然是他自己而不是他父亲的责任了。唯有他回到父的家里，他才能再次蒙受祝福。
拿俄米和路得回到伯利恒的时候，正值大麦收割的季节，所以她们便能够因着神律法的规定去拾取打捆剩下的麦穗来充饥。由如可见，神总是预备了祝福，去赐予回到祂身边的人。
反思：
我们又岂能将自己本该承担的责任，去归咎于神？
COMING HOME AGAIN
Ruth 1:19-22
19 Now the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem. And it happened, when they had come to Bethlehem, that all the city was excited because of them; and the women said, “Is this Naomi?”
20 But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
21 I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?”
22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. Now they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.
Message
When Naomi, the mother-in-law, saw that Ruth had made up her mind to leave Moab for ever and go with her to Bethlehem, she said no more but resumed her journey toward Israel. The test was over. One girl had gone back, the other went on.
Verse 19 gives us a beautiful picture. 'So they went both of them together to Bethlehem.' It later became the birthplace of both David the king and Jesus our Saviour.
The people of the town were stirred to see Naomi return after so long a time but they had great difficulty in recognising her. Naomi had changed because of the passing of time and because of the experiences she had passed through. It is the same with people today. Experiences in a far country, away from the Lord and his people leave their mark on the life and heart and sometimes on the physical condition of the person concerned.
Naomi said that God had dealt very bitterly with her. Was it God who had done it? Or was it her own family that had caused the problems? They had left the place God had said should be the home of his people and they had suffered because of doing so.
Who was the blame for the prodigal son being in the pigsty? Surely not the father, but rather the son himself. It was only when he returned to his father's house that he was blessed once more.
Naomi and Ruth came back to Bethlehem just in time to share in the blessings and provision of the barley harvest. God always has his blessings waiting for those who return to him and to the place of his will.
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
'Don't blame God if our own actions are really the cause of our problems. '