by John O’Malley
“I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty” (Ruth 1:21).
Naomi reveals to us, in her answer to the towns people’s questions, the lessons she learned from her time in Moab. These lessons become our examples for today. When a careful look is made of Naomi’s answer you can see four valuable life-lessons for when we make “Moab mistakes.”
Naomi recognized that confessed sin reveals God’s forgiveness. Consider the words “I went out,” and the counter phrase, “The Lord brought.” Naomi saw her error in leaving the protection and provision of Bethlehem-judah. She saw that, though she walked out, it was God who brought her back home. Friend, you may have left the place of God’s will for your life. No matter how far you have gone, upon the recognition of your error, God can bring you back.
Naomi recognized that sin removes God’s fellowship. Look carefully for the words that signal this lesson. Do you see the words “out” and “home”? She knew that sin had placed her on the outside of God’s will for her life. She saw that Bethlehem-judah was home. She knew that by coming back there, her broken fellowship would be restored. Sinful choices that take us to Moab will always break our fellowship with God.
Naomi further recognized that sin robs God’s fruitfulness. Consider the words, “full” and “empty.” Though Elimelech and she left Bethlehem-judah in a famine, she now saw herself as having left there full. Surely, she noticed that the townspeople who had remained to cope during the famine had come through it. They were better off now than she and Ruth. Naomi now declares herself as bankrupt because of her sinful departure from God’s will. She learned that Moab never makes you richer, only poorer!
Lastly, Naomi, recognized that confessed sin reveals God’s faithfulness. Consider the remaining word in this phrase “again.” Do you remember in verse five Naomi had heard how God had visited his people again, and she began her trip home? God allowed Naomi to come home again, after she learned her lesson in Moab. God revealed His faithfulness in permitting her to come home, again. John would later write in his Epistle the lesson Naomi had just learned what God would record in I John 1:9, “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins” (emphasis added) and to let us come home again!
Think about it…and come home!