Taking decisions

Naomi was a passive victim of a wrong decision that heaped tragedies upon tragedies upon her family. They decided to migrate to Moab when famine struck their town, Bethlehem, which rather ironically means "house of bread." There in Moab they had food in plenty, I suppose, but she lost all the male members of the family. Her husband first, her sons next, in that order. All that was left was two young widows and she.

It was indeed a wrong decision. They should not have left the Bethlehem. The Book of Ruth tells us that all the residents of that town did not leave their homes and fields for Moab during the famine. They stayed back and fought the famine.

However, Naomi was not probably responsible for that wrong decision. In a patriarchal society like hers, the husband and the adult male members took the decisions on behalf of the rest of the family. The women just followed since they didn't have a say in what was decided. Probably, the decision to go to Moab was her husband's decision not even of her sons' since they were probably young.

However, what is important is what Naomi did when the authority to take decisions in the family fell on her. In the absence of her husband and sons, she had to take decisions. She took the right decision: to return back to the homeland. That was the right decision in the right direction.

It led to blessings in her life. She had security in her life as Boaz walked in as the husband and redeemer of Ruth. There was immense joy when Obed was born who later became the grandfather of David the great king of Israel. Then centuries later, the Jesus Christ the savior of the world was born in her family.

One right decision, in the right direction is all that you have to take to walk the path of God's blessings and joy.

[Photo courtesy: Engin Akyurt]

The Days of Antipas

"The days of Antipas" means not only a period of persecution but a period of perseverance as well. It signifies the days of believers who withstood the pressures from outside to surrender. In the church in the city of Pergamum, there were some people who remained faithful to Jesus in the days of severe persecution. Apostle John calls these days of persecution "the day of Antipas" (Rev. 2:13). The Antipas mentioned here should not be confused with Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great. Herod Antipas was a wicked ruler whom Jesus called "fox". He is the one who offered the head of John the Baptist on a silver platter to his daughter. He might have tried to kill Jesus and presided over Jesus' trial. However, the Antipas mentioned in Revelation 2 was the bishop of Pergamum, a pagan city in the first century AD. The name means "against all." There is a great con trast in the names -- Herod was against all that was good, however, Antipas th

The Lonely Jungle Babbler

Every day it comes, and pecks at the glass panel of the window of my study. It is a Jungle Babbler, a very common bird in the Indian subcontinent. It dances flying up and down and fluttering its wings. Sometimes, three or four times a day it repeats this ritual. I thought it is trying to get into my room or fly through as it can see the other side. But why does it keep coming, can't it make out after three or four attempts that it can't fly through? I told my Neighbor, whom I consider an expert on birds, about this winged visitor. She explained that the babbler is pecking at its own reflection, thinking that it is another bird. I thought of verifying her suggestion. The following day I kept the window half open, drawing one panel fully open. The babbler came as usual. Perched on the window, looked into my room through the open panel but did not enter the room or peck. But it moved to the side of the window where there is glass and started pecking on the glass and dancing.

The Conquering Grace

Grace of God is hard to define. When I was making baby steps in Christian faith, mentors told me that ‘grace is unmerited favor.’ I found that helpful. But as I continued to experience God’s grace as I grew, I found that this definition is inadequate to express all that God does in my life. Now, I have come to realize that grace of God is such a thing that eludes any definition. Grace, as I understand now is what God alone and no human can do in our lives. It comes in various colors, shapes and sizes! John, the gospel writer seems to have understood the multifarious nature of grace that he talks about the ‘fullness of grace’ and ‘grace upon grace’ (John 1:17). Or the New Living Translation puts it: ‘From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another.’ These expressions mean that grace is not just one-sided reality but a multi-faceted reality. Its fullness is beyond our comprehension just as God evades our understanding. One of the rare but impo

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