GOD’S PLANS
Today’s Reading: Ruth 3-4
Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).
Boaz was from Bethlehem. The fields of Boaz (in the foreground) are now taken up with communities, roads and tunnels with protective walls such as this one. You can see Bethlehem just behind the first hill on the right.
GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.
Key Verse: Ruth 4:13
So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife; and when he went in to her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son.
Ruth had little reason to expect anything good from life. As a young widow she travelled with her mother-in-law, also a widow, to a land completely foreign to her. There the two widows had no human reason to expect anything other than a harsh, hand-to-mouth existence. In Bethlehem they would glean some grain to make bread and live on the generosity of others. But God had a different plan. Ruth is redeemed by Boaz. This redemption is a picture of what our divine Redeemer, a descendant of Boaz and Ruth, Jesus of Nazareth, has done for us. Naomi, who had lost her husband and two sons, would now have a grandson, Obed, and a great-grandson, Jesse, followed by a great-great-grandson, King David.
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord Jesus, You are my Kinsman Redeemer. You were born right there in Bethlehem, where Ruth gave birth to Your ancestor, Obed. Help me, dear God, to trust Your long-term plans which are for my good. Also, help me to trust Your short-term plans. You had everything arranged for Naomi, Ruth and Boaz. I’m trusting You to guide each step I take. In Your caring Name I pray, Amen!
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
My sister-in-law, Evelyn, lost her first husband and her only two children in a tragic car accident many years ago. She could have been in total depression, and one would’ve expected her to withdraw from life. But instead, she went from church to church telling of the grace of God which she was experiencing. As a result, many came to faith in Christ, including members of her family. Like Ruth, she declared her faith in God and God restored her. She married my brother-in-law, Ralph Rutledge, and God gave her three more children, Ruth, David, and Jonathan. Malachi 3:6 tells me about God’s faithfulness, “I am the Lord, I do not change.”
Yours for trusting God in all things,
David