Daily Devotional
A Heart That Returns
These readings call a man out of the far country. Ruth leaves Moab and binds herself to the people and God of Israel; the psalm cries from the depths for mercy; Ezekiel promises that God will remove the stony heart; Paul warns that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom. Together they teach that return to God is not a matter of words, but of a changed allegiance and a changed life.
Ruth did not cling to her old land. She turned, and by turning found a place among the people of God. As Chrysostom says, “But even as Ruth, if she had not before left her father, and renounced household and race, country and kindred, would not have attained unto this alliance;” The same pattern stands for us. If we would belong to the Lord, we must not keep one hand on Moab and the other on Bethlehem. Old sins, old companions in evil, old dishonest gains, old uncleanness, old grudges—these must be left behind.
Yet no one stands by innocence. “For ‘if Thou, Lord, shalt mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?’ Let us therefore prove ourselves worthy of that name which we have received.” Forgiveness is given so that God may be feared, not ignored. Therefore Paul forbids both public shamelessness and private injustice: the body is not for fornication, the hand is not for grasping, the tongue is not for reviling, and the brother is not to be dragged before unbelievers.
So cry for mercy, but also submit to the surgery of God. Ask Him to take away the hard heart, that you may walk in His statutes. The Lord receives those who return; but those who return must walk as citizens of His kingdom.
“But even as Ruth, if she had not before left her father, and renounced household and race, country and kindred, would not have attained unto this alliance;”
— John Chrysostom, Homilies on Matthew
“For “if Thou, Lord, shalt mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?” Let us therefore prove ourselves worthy of that name which we have received.”
— Athenagoras, Epistle to the Magnesians (Long Version)
For Reflection & Discussion
What one practice, possession, or sinful tie must you leave behind today, as Ruth left Moab, so that you may follow God without reserve?
Whom have you wronged by impurity, harsh speech, fraud, or refusal to forgive, and what confession or restitution will you make before this day ends?
At what fixed times today and this week will you cry to God from the depths in prayer and psalm, asking for a clean heart and strength to keep His commandments?
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