April 7
Ruth 1:1-4:12
In Romans 5:8, we read, " But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners." It's easy to read portions of Scriptures and insert ourselves into the characters that we like to think depict us. The story of Ruth is a beautiful love story between Ruth and Boaz. Ruth is the absolute picture of purity, submission, selflessness, etc. You can't help but love her and root for her. But guess what, we are not that pure, submissive or selfless. Naomi is the picture of hardship, and though I have had my share, her situation far exceeds the difficulties in my own life. Unless we are careful we can mistakenly think that they have earned their redemption, which is what, Boaz, their kinsmen-redeemer does. The truth is, our Kinsmen-Redeemer, Jesus, came for us, and paid for us: the unlovable, the unworthy, the sinners, that we are. In fact, as our beautiful Savior hung on that cross, in agony, as His blood continued to pour out, His eyes were locked on you and me, not because we somehow earned this sacrifice, because we didn't. No, He paid that price knowing that our salvation, our inheritance, is based on what He did, and not on what we do. Jesus spoke forth the parable in Matthew 13:44, to help illustrate this, "“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field." In this parable, the field is the world, and Jesus is the One who gave all to purchase this field. As unworthy as we are, we are the treasure, you and me, we who place our trust in Jesus. As in the story of Ruth, where Boaz redeemed his soon to be bride, Jesus redeemed us, His bride. Just as Boaz did this out of love, so did our Savior.
We read in Micah 5:2, "But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf." This Messianic prophecy foretold that the future Messiah would come from this little village, seven hundred years before it actually occurred. We read that the kinsmen-redeemer in the story of Ruth also came from this town, in Ruth 1:2, "... They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in the land of Judah..." In this story, you can't miss the beauty of Ruth: her devotion to her mother-in-law in 1:16-17, " But Ruth replied, “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!”, her work effort in 2:6-7, " “She is the young woman from Moab who came back with Naomi. She asked me this morning if she could gather grain behind the harvesters. She has been hard at work ever since, except for a few minutes’ rest in the shelter.”, her unconditional respect to Naomi in 3:6, " “I will do everything you say,”...", etc. As beautiful as all of these pictures of Ruth are, none of them gained her any inheritance. It was her act of submission in 3:7-10 which gave her an inheritance, "...Then Ruth came quietly, uncovered his feet, and lay down. Around midnight Boaz suddenly woke up and turned over. He was surprised to find a woman lying at his feet! “Who are you?” he asked. “I am your servant Ruth,” she replied. “Spread the corner of your covering over me, for you are my family redeemer.” “The Lord bless you, my daughter!”
God never asked us to become perfect before He loves us. He never asked us to accumulate a certain number of good works to earn our salvation. No, He simply told us to come to Him, the imperfect individuals that we all are , and to repent and accept His Lordship in a spirit of submission, just as Ruth did. If we do, our Kinsmen-Redeemer, having already paid the price for our redemption will grant us an inheritance far superior to what Boaz offered Ruth. Heaven is ours, it has been attained by His blood, not our works. We read in Ephesians 2:8-9, "God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it." Once we enter into a relationship with Jesus, we read in 2 Corinthians 5:17, " This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!" We will not become perfect until we transform and enter heaven. But we will experience more of God's blessings on earth as we allow Him to shed our old ways and accept His ways, as we read in Matthew 5:8, "God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God." Yes, seek purity, but never forget who you are and who He is, and that it is never our purity that earns us salvation, but His payment.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: