Do I care? What is my focus this December? The lights, presents, music, excitement of the season – or the reason for the season?
This is the last of the ‘Does God Care’ series of 2022. We reflected this year on how God always cares about our hurts and sorrows and troubles. As we approach Christmas, we must realize that He cared enough to come into this world among sinners and willingly endure scorn and rejection in order to save us from our sin and depravity.
Jesus knew how His earthly walk would end, and don’t think it was easy for Him because He was divine. For He was also fully human and He sweat drops of blood (Luke 22:44) as He cried out to God to take the cup from Him. Yet, He cared enough to finish the job. He suffered the crucifixion and died and rose so that we might live and do the same. The blessings of Easter began at the Christmas birth.
SO, THE QUESTION TODAY AND DURING THIS CHRISTMAS SEASON IS: DO I CARE?
Remember the story of Ruth and Naomi? You know there was another woman in that story, her name was Orpah. She was Naomi’s other daughter-in-law. Like Ruth, she loved Naomi and when Naomi decided to leave Moab and return to her home in Bethlehem, Orpah agreed to go along.
However, when Naomi explained the hardships that awaited these women, Orpah decided to return to her family and friends in Moab. Let’s dig deeper into this exchange:
Naomi said to Ruth, “Look, your sister-in-law is going back to her own people and her own gods. Go back with her.”
Ruth’s response:
“Don’t beg me to leave you or to stop following you. Where you go, I will go. Where you live, I will live, Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.”
NOTICE ORPAH IS NOT ONLY LEAVING NAOMI, BUT IS RETURNING TO HER PAGAN GODS!
Unwilling to endure the sacrifice necessary to remain with this godly family and follow the one true God, Orpah answered the question, ‘Do I Care’ by saying, NOT ENOUGH!
As we are in the middle of Advent , preparing for the Christmas season and celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, do you really appreciate the sacrifice God made for you and me? When there is a hard choice, do you choose the easy way? Do we care enough?
So, as Christmas approaches ask yourself: AM I ORPAH OR RUTH?
I would love to see your comments below as you contemplate this question. I will get us started with a comment of my own.
Am I Orpah or Ruth? If I am totally truthful, I am sometimes Orpah. I don’t think any of us truly appreciates or understands the sacrifice made on a day we call Christmas, which began the journey towards Easter. There are times when I choose the easy way out. I don’t witness, I am too busy to serve, I don’t make the call to comfort, I have too much to do to commit to my prayer time today, etc. While it is easy to criticize Orpah, it is understandable that she preferred to stay where she knew people and the way of life than to move to a foreign land, where Moabites were hated! We don’t know what happened to Orpah, but we know that Ruth was blessed abundantly for her faithfulness.