Open: Spend a moment just clearing your mind and asking God to show you something from his Word.
Recap: Were you able to act on something yesterday as a result of your reading from Ruth?
Starting Point:
- Often, we forget in the midst of great difficulty that God does some of his best work in the redemption business.
- This book starts out tragically and it ends with Naomi having a new chapter in her life that she can look forward to and Ruth is part of the lineage of David. You are always in the midst of the story.
Read: Ruth 4:13-22 (The lineage of Ruth)
Some things to consider:
- Ruth and Boaz get married, and then it says that Boaz slept with her and she became pregnant and had a son. The Bible is clear that the order of things is to get to know each other, talk about marriage, get married, and then engage in sexual behavior.
- Notice the phrase (verse 15) “she has been better to you than seven sons” – the integrity of Ruth and her follow-through has honored Naomi in ways that no one else could.
- Naomi was able to be involved in Ruth’s son’s life – even the people in the town are saying that God has blessed Naomi again with children through Ruth.
- Ruth has a son named Obed. Obed goes on to have a child named Jesse and then Jesse has David – King David – the greatest king of Israel’s history. Think about that – a woman from Moab, widowed and facing a long and lonely future – finds her way into the lineage of the greatest king of Israel’s history.
- Add to that this fact – King David is the line from which Jesus is born. So essentially, there is nothing that God can’t work with to bring about the greatest turnarounds in life. No matter what we are going through, there is always the chance for God to redeem our lives if we keep our eyes on him.
What is it saying?
· In this passage, what is one thing that sticks out to you that God seems to be saying?
What should I do?
· If God is saying something in this passage, what do you feel he is leading you to do today?