Pay Attention To The Dead Stuff

Isn’t it funny how God sometimes speaks to us?  One day as I was praying about a talk I had to give and wondering if I was on the right path, I heard God say to me: 

“Pay attention to the dead stuff.”

He said this to me as I was thinking about the book of Ruth in the Bible, and at the same time checking my hanging basket of flowers outside --- for dead stuff. 

I’m no master gardener, but I have learned that if you want FULL and beautiful flower baskets -- that keep on growing, you need to pay attention to the dead stuff.      

It seemed to me that over the next few days God was asking me to look at the dead stuff in MY life; things that weren’t very beautiful, things that weren’t flowering with God’s purpose, sin to be more exact. 

And so I ask us today:  Do we have any dead stuff in our lives?  Are we paying attention to it?  And what are we doing about it?

Now Ruth DID something about the dead stuff.   

What I love about the book of Ruth is that it’s about an ordinary family dealing with ordinary life.  I like that because I’m ordinary. 

When I looked more closely at the first chapter of Ruth, I found out that it has a LOT of dead stuff in it!  First off, it was written during a very dark time in Israel’s history where “everyone did what was right in their OWN eyes” as it says in the book of Judges.  God’s voice was dead to them.  They didn’t want to hear it!  We then find dead land in Bethlehem, dead gods in Moab, and sadly a dead husband.

We see Naomi’s dead convictions - allowing her sons to marry Moabite women, directly disobeying God’s law in Deut. 7. Then we read of 2 more dead sons; ONE of which was Ruth’s husband.  Ruth was surrounded by death.  I bet she was getting sick of it.  

When an opportunity for change came along, Ruth jumped at it!  The famine in Bethlehem had ended and Naomi was going home!  I find it surprising and sad that Naomi suggested that Ruth and Orpah go back to their dead gods!!? Hello?!!  

And THAT is where Ruth gets RUTHLESS about the dead stuff.  Just listen to her resolute response vs. 16&17 of chapter one: 

“Don’t ask me to leave you and TURN BACK (I am NOT going back to that DEAD place!)  I will go wherever you go and live wherever you live.  (I want LIFE)  Your people will be my people and your God will be my God.  (The God of Israel is my GOD, nothing else!) I will die where you die and will be buried there.  May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!”  (My mind is made up. Period.)

SHE PAID ATTENTION TO THE DEAD STUFF AND did you notice?  SHE WAS RUTHLESS ABOUT WEEDING IT OUT.

Are you ruthless about that dead stuff in your life? Do you pay attention to it?  John 10:10 says, “The thief comes to STEAL, KILL AND DESTROY, but I (Jesus Christ) have come that you might have LIFE and have it to the FULL!” 

What’s leaving you empty, friends?  What’s stealing your full?  Pay attention to that dead stuff.   

Are you like me and you are easily offended?  You look behind you sometimes seeing a long path of past grudges?  Are these emotional time STEALERS or what?!!  Isn’t it time for the road to forgiveness?  It was for me – still is.

Does the way you spend your money KILL your spiritual giving? Step on the road to examine your finances?  You’ll find freedom there. 

Do harsh words fly out your mouth and DESTROY the ones you love?  The daily road of repentance and accountability will restore your life. 

Do I sound like I am familiar with this dead stuff?  I wish I could say that I wasn’t!  I don’t know what it is for you, but I do know from experience that dead stuff stinks!

I wonder….. What fragrance would the body of Christ have if we were all ruthless about weeding out SIN?  What beauty would be reflected in JUST ONE PERSON who would pay attention to the dead stuff DAILY because they SO BADLY wanted a GROWING basket of life! Imagine the life we could give away to a dying world who desperately needs to experience the FULL Christian life?    

If ordinary Ruth could do it, can’t ordinary us?  Of course we can!  Just ask God to help you pay attention to the dead stuff and be ruthless about weeding it out.

I’ve got to go now.  I’ve got some more weeding to do.