Men not thinking

It is easy for economics to be the sole rationale for our decision making, but this is not good enough. In Ruth chapter 1, Elimelech decides to leave Bethlehem because of the famine in the land. His decision to move to Moab was one that affected his whole family, not only economically but spiritually. He left in order to gain economic advantage, but the move to Moab was disobedience to God (the Lord has instructed his people not to associate with the Moabites - read about it in Deuteronomy 23:3-6), the move meant his sons were not in a position to marry Hebrew wives (see Deuteronomy 7:3), and the move took them away from worship of the LORD to a people who worshipped Chemosh.

Instead of bringing about economic security, the end result of the move to Moab was economic uncertainty. Three widows were left, with no men and no children. The spiritual welfare of his family did not feature in Elimelech's thinking.

It is easy to boil decisions down to the almighty dollar, but there are more important things. Meeting with God's people, providing a Christian environment for your family, providing the example of counting the cost of following Christ. Jesus teaches us clearly that you cannot serve both God and money (Matthew 6:24). Men need to lead their families and their communities so that they put God first in all the areas of their lives for their own sake and for those they lead.