The Jews vs. The Gentiles

Sometimes, we as Christians believe that we are without sin and we begin judging the people of the world (unbelievers), like the Jews judged the Gentiles. They were circumcised, so what, that didn't make them any better. They were just as dirty as the Gentiles. Just because we call God our Father, it doesn't mean we can go around judging others. No, we should show love to others in a way that points them towards God.

The Jews felt like they were the keepers of the law. That they were to guard and protect the law. They did such an awesome job that only the Jews were allowed to follow it. Their job was to tell other nations about God and his works, but they failed to do so. With them being the only ones allowed to follow it, the Jews failed to glorify God. Like the Jews, God has entrusted us to tell others about Him. We are not suppose to have an holier than thou attitude. If we act like we are better than others, how do we expect them to actually want to come to church? Or want to hear about Jesus? They are going to believe that all Christians are the same and therefore, we may have just lost them forever. If Jesus wanted us to tell others about Him and we refuse or fail to, are we any better than the Jews?

Accepting others will ultimately glorify God. So instead of being mean and acting as if we are better than others, maybe we should focus more on God and leading people to Him. I believe that Paul had a wonderful way of putting this. In Romans 3:9, Paul's states," What then? Are we any better? Not at all. For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin." Meaning that Jews and Gentiles are equally as bad or as good as the other. Just because the Jews are God's chosen it doesn't mean they are any holier than anyone else. In the same way today, Christians are as equally sinful as an unbeliever. The only difference is we have a glorious Father, that loved us enough to send his son, to forgive us of our sins. Now our job is to not be like the Jews or the Gentiles, but like Paul and share the wonderful news of our Savior.

Learning from Ruth and Naomi

Ruth is one of my favorite women of the bible to learn about. As you can recall, she was married and was having a wonderful life, that was until her dear husband died. Not only was she suffering but so was her sister-in-law Orpah and her mother-in-law Naomi. Out of all of them, Naomi was the one who had it the hardest. She has lost both of her sons and her husband! So time came for them to move on, for there was no one to care for them. Naomi told the girls to go back home to  their families, because she too was going back to her homeland. Orpah did as she was told and went on her way, but Ruth refused.

Ruth showed great courage by going with Naomi to an unknown land, taking Naomi's God as her own. And in almost the same way, we take someone else's God as our own when we first become Christians. We know nothing of this God, we know He sent Jesus to forgive us of our sins if only we would ask, but what else? We may know of the bible stories like Jonah, Noah, and Daniel. But what do we truly know about God when we first become Christians? As new Christians we know almost nothing of God, only Jesus. As growing Christians, we must learn of our gracious Father, the one who loved us enough to sacrifice his son for our souls.

I believe the picture that Ruth and Naomi paint, is one that new and old Christians alike should follow. As brothers and sisters in Christ, we should try and help each other grow closer to our Father. Learn all we can about him and why he loves us so much. We have such an awesome Father and I wish that we would just realize that. And maybe just maybe we can one day show God how much he truly means to us. He is so much more than someone to save us from hell. He is all-powerful, all-knowing and he loves us more than anything. If only we would turn to him and love Him the same.