The story of Ruth

Good morning. Welcome to church.

Man. I love the book of Ruth.

Don't you love the book of Ruth? This incredible love story?

If you like love stories, me and my daughter, oh, we love us.

A good Hallmark movie. She told me like 3 times this

weekend, the 1st of November. There's so many of them coming.

But I mean, those things have nothing on the Bible.

It is this incredible story of redemption.

It is this picture of the gospel.

You know that the book of Ruth only has 85 verses in it, but

actually the word redeem or redemption or redeemed is

actually in that in that book 23 mentioned 23 different times in

the 85 verses. It's this incredible story of

redemption. And if you don't know it yet,

everything in the Old Testament points to the New Testament.

If you're reading your Bible and you're reading something in the

Old Testament, you've got to say to yourself, what is the saying

to me about what Jesus has done? Because either it shows us in

the Old Testament how we can't save ourselves and how we need

Jesus to come, or it's actually a picture of Jesus coming.

And the book of Ruth is exactly that.

It's this picture of this Moabite woman who's outside of

the outside of Israel, outside of God's people, who gets

knitted into the family of God by this kinsman Redeemer Boaz,

which is a picture of Jesus who came and knitted us into his

family as outsiders, knitted us into his family so that we can

be in the family of God. It's an incredible book.

If you haven't read it yet, go read it.

It's beautiful. But you know, I think the book

of Ruth, although it's a picture of Jesus, I think there's some

very practical things in the book of Ruth that can help us

actually redeem our mess here on earth.

You know, it's about Jesus redeeming us, ultimately our

salvation, but I believe it's also a book that can really help

us to redeem our mess here on earth to forgot to come into our

mess here on earth and actually bring a redemptive story through

our stories. And you know, what I want to go

after today is is actually that I think Ruth lived this

incredible life of significance. And I want to go of what, what

what do we do if we want to live a life of significance, not just

success, You know, the world chases success.

But actually, when you come, when you look back one day, when

you when you there die lying on your deathbed and you look back,

you want to say, actually, I lived a life of significance.

What does that look like? You know, I believe that's we,

we I love that song we sing so often nowadays, again and again

and again and again. He rescued me out of this mess I

was in and we dancing on the graves that we one lived in,

once lived in. And you know, I think that's

when we sing that it stirs our faith, doesn't it?

I mean, the worship today, I don't know about you, but it

stirred my faith about, hey, man, we've got this life of joy.

We've got this life we can live with God that should look

beautiful. Jesus did it all for us.

But you know, as much as it stirs us, when we sing that song

on a Sunday, it can't stop thee. You know, your mess is not going

to be redeemed by singing a song in church.

Your God starts to work thee. That's where he starts to work.

But actually we need to take it into our Monday because when we

take what God's doing in our hearts on a Sunday through the

worship and through the word, when we take that into our

Monday, that's when God starts redeeming our stories.

And that's where he actually takes us into a life of

significance. You know, I think if you've been

in this church long enough, and if you, if you're here for the

first time today, I'll give you a quick rundown.

But if you've been here long enough, and if you've been here

through the book of Romans, you would, you would hopefully know

by now that our salvation is Jesus and Jesus alone.

We don't have a part to play in that.

You can't save yourself. It's only Jesus.

One day when we get to heaven and we stand before God, what

he's going to see is the righteousness of Christ.

So our salvation is Jesus alone. Let's, I hope that we've all got

that clear. We've got that settled in our

hearts. If you don't have that settled

in your hearts, please go go on the app and listen to the series

of Romans and get that settled in your heart.

But you know here on earth that if we want God to come into our

mess here on earth and redeem it, we have a part to play when

when we redeem us, when our story here on earth gets

redeemed is US and Jesus. You know, it's the thing about

the work of the cross and the walk of the cross, the work of

the cross. Only Jesus, the walk of the

cross, our sanctification here on earth, living a life of

significance, that's us and Jesus.

There's a partnership. We've got a part to play.

He's got a part to play. We can't do it on our own.

But let me tell you something, God can't do it on his own

either. He needs you to partner with him

when it comes to your mess here on earth.

You see, when you read the book of Ruth, it's only four

chapters, only 85 verses, but you know that this book actually

spans over 11 to 12 years. You know that it's the story

about these characters, Elimelech and Naomi and Boaz and

Ruth. And you know, the Bible is a

little bit like an Instagram Reel.

You know, we get these highlights.

But in between there was these moments, many, many moments and

many, many choices they made in the everyday mundane life that

actually ultimately led to this life of significance.

You know, it seems like 4 chapters, Bam, bam, thank you,

ma'am. You know, we just bring God in

and everything sorted out. But it was walking with God to

walk into this life of significance.

So good. So let's read in Ruth one.

I'm going to wait for you to get there because you know me.

I like you to see it in the Bible.

So we're going to read in Ruth one.

If you went to Sonar school like me, you'll know it's that's

where you find it. Sunday School was good for

something. OK, so we're going to read Ruth.

One in the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the

land. So a man from Bethlehem and

Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a

while in the country of Moab. The man's name was Elimelech,

his wife's name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were

Melon and Killian. They were Ephratites from

Bethlehem, Judah, and they went to Moab and lived there.

Now Elimelech Naomi's husband died and she was left with her

two sons. They married Moabite woman, one

named Orapa and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about

10 years, both Maelon and Killian also died, and Naomi was

left without her two sons and her husband.

When Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of

His people by providing food for them, she and her daughters in

law prepared to turn return home.

From there with her two daughter in law's, she left the place

where she had been living and set out on the road that would

take them back to the land of Judah.

Then Naomi said to her two daughters in

Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept aloud and said to her,

We will go back with you, to your people.

But Naomi said, return home, my daughters.

Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons

who could become your husbands? Return home, my daughters.

I am too old to have another husband.

Even if I thought there was still hope for me, even if I had

a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons, would you wait

until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for

them? No, my daughters, it is more

bitter for me than for you, because the Lord's hand has

turned against me. At this they wept aloud again.

Then Orpa kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth

clung to her. Look, said Naomi, your

sister-in-law is going back to her people, and her gods go back

with her. But Ruth replied, don't urge me

to leave you or to turn back from you.

Where you go I will go, Where you stay I will stay.

Your people will be my people and your God.

My God, where you die I will die, and there I'll be buried.

May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death

separates you and me. When Naomi realized that Ruth

was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.

So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem.

When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred

because of them. And the woman exclaimed.

Can this be Naomi? Now, I don't know about you if

it's, if it's just me, but when I read this passage, I can't, I

can't help but think of the series of Romans 8 we've just

done, you know? And the verse that jumps to mind

for me is the one in Romans 8, verse 5 to 6 where we where we

Romans 8:5–6

learned in Romans 8 that those who live according to the flesh

have their mind sets on what the flesh desires.

But those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds

set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh

is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life.

And I see just in verse in chapter 1 of Ruth.

I actually see two very clear examples of this in chapter 1 of

Ruth. And the first one is the

scenario of Elimelech. And I think Stephen explained to

us beautifully last last week what it actually meant when

Elimelech chose to take his family to Moab.

If you weren't here last week, go listen to last week's

message. Because the Moabites and the

Israelites hated each other, the hatred.

It was a debauched land. There was no godliness in Moab.

And yet Elimelech looks at this and he decides to take his

family from the from from out of the family of God where he's

been placed amongst God's people to this country, Moab.

For me, that's a very clear example of living life in the

flesh and not in the spirit. And you know, The thing is God's

God's redemption happens through family.

If you read your Bible long enough, you'll see it actually,

God comes and takes us and by by the blood of Jesus, he puts us

into the family of God. And then he puts us into a

family called the church. You know, it's God's plan

because he knows we need people next to us that can walk this

road with us. But Elimelech looks at his

situation with his eyes, with what his eyes can see.

He looks at his situation in the flesh and what he sees as famine

in Israel. It's going well in Moab.

Surely it's got to be better for me to go there.

Surely it's got to be better for my business if I go do there.

Surely I'm going to make more money when I go there.

Surely there's going to be a better future for my children

there. Surely my kids are going to are

going to have better opportunities when I go there.

But he looks, he looks at the situation in the flesh instead

of in the spirit. You know what happens?

Firstly, his sons end up marrying Moabite women.

Think of the implication of that.

Then what happens? He passes away, his sons pass

away, and his wife is left widowless in a foreign country

with no family around her, nobody to support her, nobody to

walk this road out with her. And you know what happened in

the meantime. In the meantime, God had already

brought relief in Israel. The famine was over there.

The people in Israel was living, there was food.

There was no more famine there. But now Naomi was stuck in Moab

with no food, no husband, no kids, no family around her.

Because you know that when we look at our situations with our

eyes with, with what our eyes can see in the flesh, then

actually sometimes we don't make godly decisions because you know

what? We serve a God that knows the

future. We don't know the future, but

but he knows, he knows the future.

The second scenario is the scenario of the story of Ruth,

you know, when Naomi urges Ruth and Oraput to go back to their

to their own families. That was really the wise thing

to do. I mean, we've already said the

Israelites hated the Moabites. I mean, what were the odds of

Ruth actually founding her husband in in Israel?

In fact, actually the Israel's were not allowed to marry people

that were outside of the nation of Israel.

So in the natural, it made so much more sense.

In the flesh with my eyes can see, it made so much more sense

for Ruth and Orpa to go back to their own families where they

could find another husband and marry and start a family.

But you know, Ruth must have seen something in that family in

the middle of Moabite. She must have seen something in

the faith of Naomi. She must have seen something in

how she walked this out and how she clung to her guard in spite

of it that she says, I don't want to go back there.

I've seen something. She saw the situation with her

spiritual eyes. She made a decision in the

spirit, not in the flesh because in the flesh you're going back

to your own people makes much more sense in the natural.

But actually, you know, then we get this beautiful verses in

Ruth one which, you know, it's often quoted at weddings.

You know, it's this beautiful promise, but you're just by the

way, this is for free. It's not actually part of my

message. But she said those words to her

mother-in-law, not to a handsome husband.

But anyway, that's the preach for another day.

I won't go there today, but but you know, she says these words

don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you.

Where you go, I will go and where you stay, I will stay.

Your people will be my people and your God, my God, where you

die, I will die. And there I'll be buried.

May the Lord deal with me ever so severely if even death

separates you, me, you and me. And you know, with this

decision, this one decision, Ruth starts this amazing

redemptive story, this amazing life of significance.

Do you know that Ruth is the great grandmother of David?

Do you know that Ruth is actually in the genealogy of

Christ? You're going to read She's a MO

by Tess. She comes from the tribe of

Moab. But when you read Matthew 1,

she's mentioned in the genealogy of Christ.

Do you know that she that she's one of only two women that has a

book in the Bible named after them?

And you know, that her life was so significant that more than

two and a half thousand years later, we're sitting here today

actually reading her story and saying, God, how does this

apply? How does this apply to my life?

How does this actually apply to what I'm how does this apply to

my mess that I'm finding myself in right now?

You know, isn't that the life you want to live a life of

significance, a life that can have an impact for generations

from now? But now you say to me, Wendy,

that sounds amazing. You know, surely we all want

that. But how do I get there?

You know, I think there's a, there's a pretty guaranteed way

of living a life of significance.

It's a bold statement to make, but I reckon if we could live in

the will of God, surely we would live a life of significance.

Don't you think so? If we could somehow get it right

to live a life in the will of God, surely if you're inside the

will of God, your life must have significance.

Now you must say to me, Wendy, now you really like looking for

a Unicorn because like, how do I know what is the will of God for

my life? But you know that the Bible

actually gives us such great guidance with that.

And I want us to read and verse in Romans 12 verse 2 today and

Romans 12:2

Romans 12 verse 2 says do not conform to the patterns of this

Romans 12:2

world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is.

He's good, pleasing and perfect will.

How do we know what's God's will for our life?

He's good, pleasing and perfect will.

How do we know? It says then you will be able to

know. When will we be able to know?

Actually it says do not conform to the patterns of this world,

but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

The first part of that word says do not be conformed to the

patterns of this world. You know, I believe the main

reason why so many of us struggle to actually do this, to

struggle to live in the in the spirit and not in the flesh is

because we don't understand who God is.

We actually, our picture and our understanding of God has been

built by other voices and not by actually what the word of God

says about who God is. You know, we live in an age

where there's so many voices, You know, I mean, when most of

us grew up, you know, all the ones like me who had to go

colour my hair so I can come preach here today.

You know, the ones that have been along for around for a long

time before the Internet and social media and all of that,

you know, the voices that spoken to our life was mainly our

parents, our friends, our family, our church.

But nowadays we have people from all over the world, people from

all walks of life speaking into our life.

And they, they form how we see God, they form how we view God.

And you know that I think people think that when you become a

Christian, there's like a whole set of rules you have to follow.

And if you do it really well, then you become a nice, good

Christian. But you have this dull, boring

life. Now, I don't know about you, but

that's certainly not what I signed up for.

But you know, I think one of the biggest misconceptions we have

is, is that we, I believe that God is a God of big yes, little

no. When I read my Bible, I see God

as this God of big yes. So much freedom, so much love.

But there's a few no's. There's a few things that you

shouldn't do, not because I want to spoil your fun, but actually

because God knows it's not good for us, you know, and I think

most Christians tend to either lean towards the one side or

towards the other side. Either we're so focused on the

nose of God, don't do that, don't do that, don't go there,

that we actually don't live in the freedom, that freedom that

Mitch was talking about today. We actually don't live in the

freedom that God paid for us because we're so stuck on the on

the nose of God. Or we lean to the other side

where we're like, you know, Jesus paid for it all.

Hallelujah. I can do what I want to do.

You know, the nose of God are just suggestions.

You know, we don't have to do the nose of God.

We can actually, we can actually, you know, it's OK, God

Forgives us. And I think this is part of the

reason why we struggle to walk in the fullness of what God has

for us. Let's talk a little bit about

sexual intimacy. You know, I think this whole

thing of understanding the, the, the, that God is a God of big

yes and a little and little no actually started with the first

sin. You know, when Adam and Eve was

in the Garden of Eden, God said, here's a whole garden for you.

You can eat from all the trees, every single one of them except

this one. Just this one one, No big yes.

So that was the first sin. And I think we do the same with

our sexual intimacy. You know, when when we start

dating, The Bible's not very prescriptive about how you

should date. It doesn't tell you step one,

Step 2, do this, do that, do that.

It actually says, man, go for it, have fun, go on dates, have

a picnic, go ice skating, hold hands, kiss a little bit, go

have conversations that I just say that I'd lie.

Oh, that that's, you know, voice of mine.

Play board games, paint, pottery, play paddle.

It's like all of this, yes, that you can do while you're dating.

But one thing sexual intimacy is meant for inside the marriage

one, No. But you know, nowadays in the

church, it's become so normal for people to sleep together.

It's become so normal for people to move in together.

We met with a couple a couple of weeks ago.

They wanted to marry us and they're living together.

And when Gene asked them what, how did you get to this decision

to move in together, he said to Gene, But it's normal.

Everybody does it. You see, we conform our thinking

to the patterns of the world and we actually throw the little

nose of God away in the process. Do you know that?

Do you think that 2000 years ago, 3000 years ago when the

Bible was written, do you think people didn't want to sleep

together? Do you think hormones have

changed and evolved over the years?

You know, I mean myself and Eugene's married 25 years this

year. When we were dating, we were

both already, we had personal relationship with the Lord.

We were spirit filled Christians.

Do you think we didn't want to sleep together?

I mean, have you seen what it looks like?

I mean, I don't know. I don't know if I'm biased or

anything, but I mean, but like by far the best looking guy in

this church. Like, I mean, not even a

competition. And I mean, do you think we

didn't want to sleep together? Of course we did.

Of course we did, you know, but but we chose not to do it

because we actually chose to submit ourselves to the world in

the ways of God. And you know, Eugene always says

to people, you know what? You don't get a saved hormone.

So in fact, you may be saved, but your hormones aren't, you

know, so I think so you got, you want to think about yourself.

Why did God do this? Why did God make it so

difficult? Why did God say sexual intimacy

is meant to be in the marriage? You know, I've heard many

explanations and, and different people will tell you different

things about soul ties and, you know, sticking the paper

together and then when you tear them apart, just pieces all

those two. And I believe it's all true.

But I believe that the biggest reason why God says sexual

intimacy is, is belongs in the marriage.

It's because God wants to teach us before we get married to

actually submit our sexual desires to his will in his ways.

Because you know what, for those of you here that aren't married

yet today, you may think, man, if I can just get married, then

I won't have to struggle with sexual temptation anymore.

Well, I've got news for you. It doesn't go away.

Sexual temptation is still there when you're married.

And if you don't, learn to submit your sexual desires to

the will and the ways of God before you get married.

How are you going to do it later in life when you've been married

15 years and your marriage is in that famine that Stephen spoke

about last year and your colleague at the at work is

giving you that attention that you so badly crave?

How are you going to submit your sexual desires to the world in

the ways of God? Because you know what else is

normal nowadays? Even in the church?

Having affairs, getting divorced, we had last week.

It's become normal. So if it's normal to sleep

together before you get married, why would you not do the normal

thing when you get through that time of famine later on in your

marriage? God wants to teach us and once

again, it's the little no. He's saying do every have fun,

go do what you want to do. Go have do as much many things

as you want to. But this one thing, sexual

intimacy belongs in the marriage.

It's just an example. And we can apply this to so many

different aspects of our life. We can apply this to our

finances. We can apply this to our ethic

in the workplace. We can apply this to our

marriages. When my marriage goes through

your marriage is going through a difficult time.

Do I conform to the pattern of the world and start fighting for

myself, my rights, my whatever? Or do I actually do what the

word of God says and die to myself and love my husband and

he dies to himself and he loves me.

And as we do that, we we start living ourselves up.

It's a little thing, it's a little small thing, but it takes

you into the freedom and the abundant life that God has for

us. I read this quote recently and I

loved it. I think it's going to come up on

the screen. Oh, it's always terrible when

you turn around and you see yourself on that big screen.

This, it's by Charles Stanley and he says God is responsible

for the consequences of our obedience.

We are responsible for the consequences of our

disobedience. Let's read that again.

God is responsible for the consequences of our obedience.

We are responsible for the consequences of our

disobedience. So it means when you choose to

actually submit your life to the little nose of God and to be

obedient to the Word of God, you're actually taking your life

and the consequences of your choices.

And you're putting it in the hands of this God that we heard

about in Romans 8 that promises that He will make all things

work together for the good of those who love Him.

I mean, how can that not be a recipe for success?

He promises that if we put our consequences in His hands, He

will make all things work together for the good of us.

I mean, I love that. You know, it's like, it's like

foolproof, like foul proof, you know?

But it when we, when we actually obedience to God, you see, when

we choose obedience to God, like the book of Ruth, we can walk

into this redemptive story when we take our mess and we say,

God, I want to partner with you and I want to actually give my

mess to you. And I say, God, show me, show me

how to make decisions that will Take Me Out of this mess into

the story of success and the story of redemption.

You know, the second part of that verse in Romans 12 is 2, so

it's going to come up again. Yeah, the second part says.

The first part says do not be conformed to the pattern of this

world. But the second part says, but be

transformed by the renewing of your mind.

You know, I believe this is exactly what Stephen spoke about

when he spoke two weeks ago about the awe of God, about

living in the awe of God, that actually when we renew our minds

to living in the awe of God, actually that's when we are

transformed. You see that?

When, when the Almighty God, the creator of the universe, the guy

who made Betelgeuse, the guy who knit you together in your

mother's womb, when he says, I don't think you should be doing

this, it's not going to be good for you.

Like, how do you not obey that? How do you think like, but maybe

that's like Bill Gates coming to you and saying, hey, you know

what? You know your laptop, it's not

good for it when you put it underwater.

Like I wouldn't recommend that. You know, it's not good for it.

And you go like, surely so much more fun to work in the swimming

pool out of my desk. Surely it'll be OK.

I mean, how bad can it be if my swim, if my laptop goes in the

computer? Would you do that?

No, he's the guy that like made Microsoft.

He's like, like, you wouldn't do that.

But we do that with God. He's the God who created us.

He's the God who promises that He wants us to have life and

life in abundance. But we think we know better

because actually when you choose to ignore the little nose of

God, what you're actually saying is God, thank you.

But I actually know better what's good for me and my future

than you do, beautiful girlie. Go for it.

That's what it comes down to. You know, I believe this is

exactly what a nominal Christian is.

We've heard the word nominal Christian has been been

mentioned a few times in the last couple of weeks.

I believe a nominal Christian is not someone that doesn't love

God. They love God, but all they say

is I love God and I'll and I will submit my ways to his ways

when it suits me. But sometimes, you know,

sometimes I actually know a little bit better than God

what's good for me and my future.

It's what a nominal Christian is.

So, you know, the story of Ruth is this picture of how if we

allow God to come into our mess, he can knit us into his family

and take us into this life of significance.

But actually, you know, ultimately it comes down to a

choice. We've got this life in the in

the flesh, which may lead to joy and success, or we got life in

the spirit. Sorry, the life in the flesh

which leads to pleasure and success or life in the spirit

which leads to joy and significance.

And that's the choice you stand before today.

Do I want a life of pleasure and success or do I want a life of

joy and significance? That's where we at today.

Now you, you may same to me today when the you know, I've

I've, I'm aware of the mess of my own life.

Even as you were speaking today, maybe some of the patterns of

the world that you've been conforming to would have popped

in your head. Or maybe you're saying, hey, I

realize I'm not living in the awe of God, that I'm not always

actually building my life around the ways of God.

I'm actually doing it a lot like my friends who aren't saved.

My life looks a lot like those. Where do I start?

Where do I even start doing this?

Because, you know, it can be very daunting.

Well, all I can say to you today is in my life, there's two

things that's had the biggest impact on how I've walked this

walk with God. And once again, I mean, that's

why we preach here from the floor, why we don't stand on the

stage, because my life is not perfect.

Let's get, let's get that clear right off the bat.

My life is not perfect. It's not like I live in the

perfect will of God all the time.

You know, you see like feathers falling when I walk.

It's not like that. We all make mistakes.

You know, it's not easy. But you know what, there's two

things which I've, I've found the most helpful in living this

life. But before I say those two

things, I want to remind you of how about how I started, you

know, this walk that we do here on earth, US and Jesus, It's a

partnership. You're not going to get this

right on your own. You're not going to get this by

naming it, claiming it, framing it, putting a sticker on your

steering wheel, putting a sticker on your mirror where you

put your makeup on, and like, I'm not going to do this again.

It doesn't work that way. It's a partnership with God, us

and Jesus, us and the Holy Spirit day by day together, we

choose to submit ourselves to Him.

He leads us. It's a partnership.

You're not going to do it on your own, but God's not going to

do it on his own either. It's a partnership.

And here's the two things I found most helpful in my walk

with God. Get up 10 minutes earlier, Take

your Bible, read a scripture and ask yourself, God, don't you

want to show me who you are in this verse or these 5 verses?

I'm not talking about verse of the day that pops up on your

phone and you read it and you go OK, bam, bam, thank you ma'am,

I've done that. I'm good for the day.

I'm talking about get you know what?

You're not going to be more tired if you get up 10 minutes

earlier. In fact, just get up at the same

time and instead of scrolling for 10 minutes before you get

out of your bed, take your Bible, read a verse and just ask

God, this God, won't you show me who you are in these verses,

these two or three verses or this chapter I read today.

Why don't you show me who you are and take 10 minutes, 10

minutes to just think about who God is.

And the second thing, which I believe is that the most, the

biggest impact on my walk and our walk with God has been

getting into a life group. I've said this many times today.

The story of God's, God's redemptive story plays out in

family. You know, when we get into a

life group, we meet with other people, we get to know them.

They encourage us, they challenge us.

When they see our life is not lining up with the ways of God,

they could recorrect each other. The Bible says iron sharpens

iron. And when we get in a life group,

we start walking into the fullness of what God has for us.

It's God's plan. Family is God's plan.

So I'm going to take just a few minutes.

I'm finished and I've said a lot.

I hope it was a little bit slower than last time, but can

we just close our eyes for a moment and say, God, I want to

give my mess to you today. I want to ask you today, God, I

want to partner with you today to walk in this walk where I can

give my mess to you and you can come alongside me and you can

walk me out into a life of significance and ask that we

just just take a moment and just say to God, God, I want to

partner with you. Won't you partner with me?

I want to live a life of significance.