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Day 73, or March the 14th. You are a really special,

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ordinary person. Our thoughts today are from

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Ruth chapter 1, verses 3 and 4. Now Elimelech,

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Naomi's husband, died, and she was left with

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her two sons. They married Moabite women, one

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named Orpah, and the other Ruth. Now the big

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picture surrounding these verses. The book of

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Ruth is one of only two books in the whole Bible

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which bears a woman's name. She lived during

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the period of judges, but was from the east of

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the Jordan River, a land called Moab. A man named

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Elimelech and his wife Naomi migrated to Moab

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because of a famine in the promised land, and

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settled there with their family. Their two sons

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married local women, and one of these was Ruth.

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The whole family was rocked when all the men

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died. Only Naomi and her two daughters -in -law,

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Ruth and Orpah, survived, and Naomi decided to

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return to her homeland. Both Ruth and Orpah wanted

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to return with her, but she did all she could

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to dissuade them. In the end, Orpah remained,

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and Naomi and Ruth travelled to Naomi's hometown

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of Bethlehem. Ruth married a local man who was

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called Boaz, and was a relative of Naomi. They

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had a son called Obed, who had a son called Jesse,

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who had a son called David, who became king of

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Israel. And now, our action step for today. Little

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did Ruth know that her marriage and subsequent

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journey into the land of the Jews would give

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her a unique place in history as a direct ancestor

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of Jesus Christ. She was an average sort of person

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with a simple faith in God. She had a son called

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Obed, about whom we know almost nothing. In a

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sense, that's the end of her story. But God had

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other plans, which Ruth never knew anything about.

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She will be really surprised when you want to

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meet her in heaven. Are you a Ruth, not really

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standing out from the rest? God also has a special

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place for you in history, even though you may

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never discover it. Enjoy your life in the light

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of this. You are a key person in God's plans.