As sinful beings, we all get wrapped up in the "it's all about me" mentality. It's very easy to do, in fact. I find myself doing it daily, even hourly at times. I am constantly thinking about what I need, what I want, where I need to go, things I need to do, places I need to go, errands I need to run, people I need to see....you get the picture. I'm not saying that it's wrong to worry about these things. However, we can easily become SO wrapped up in ourselves that we neglect others around us that are in need.
A few weeks ago, I was studying the relationship of Ruth and Naomi in the Bible. Just this week, I was confronted with this same message again during chapel at school. The bond between the two women is amazing to me and both of them show a tremendous amount of UNselfishness. Naomi had already lost her husband, and then she lost both of her sons. She still had her daughter-in-laws, though. Naomi was at a point in her life where she felt she needed to go back to her home land. She didn't want her daughter-in-laws to go with her and leave everything they were used to behind. Naomi could have easily only thought of herself and demanded that her daughter-in-laws go with her, but she didn't do that at all. After telling them to stay, Ruth decided she was going with Naomi. What she said to her mother-in-law speaks volumes about her unselfishness. Ruth said, "Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the LORD do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me." (Ruth 1:16-17) To Ruth, it wasn't about her own desires and wants - it was about taking care of, being loyal to, tending to the needs of, and loving Naomi - her mother-in-law. Wow, again!
Would you leave all that you knew behind to follow your mother-in-law? Not many, if any, of us would. But, more importantly, will you put aside your own selfish desires, to do the will of the Lord? Will you stop worrying only about yourself and tend to the needs of others? I have been challenged many times just this week with this. It seems that everywhere I turn, this same message is screaming at me. Apparently God is speaking to me about my selfishness. Is He speaking to you, too?
