SATURDAY, APRIL 30
READ RUTH 4:13-17
RUTH 4:13 So Bo‘az took Rut, and she became his wife. He had sexual relations with her, Adonai enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. 14 Then the women said to Na‘omi, “Blessed be Adonai, who today has provided you a redeemer! May his name be renowned in Isra’el. 15 May he restore your life and provide for your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” 16 Na‘omi took the child, laid it on her breast and became its nurse. 17 The women who were her neighbors gave it a name; they said, “A son has been born to Na‘omi,” and called it ‘Oved. He was the father of Yishai the father of David.
God takes a risk on the most unlikely situations, hanging the whole of human history on two homeless widows—one old and past the age of children, the other a foreigner. God moves in our lives as an unseen, unheard presence, calling us to risk all just as God risks all.
The women’s risk pays off; they secure their futures when Boaz takes Ruth as his wife. Boaz also takes a risk. He joins himself to a woman who has already been married, who is not of his country or brought up in his faith.
The people in the story—Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz— venture into a risky relationship, but the birth of a son seems to confirm the wisdom of taking a chance. As the village women know, Obed is a sign of God’s blessing, one who will restore Naomi’s life, keep her in her old age, and affirm the precious worth of a daughter-in-law.
We know that this baby, born of an unlikely union, is the ongoing link to another baby, one who would come from the most unlikely union of all, that of God and humankind. Through Obed, God builds the house of David, a house big enough to include the outcast, the foreigner, the sinner, the victim, the heartbroken: “And Salmon [was] the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David” (Matt. 1:5-6).
It is risky business to entrust the salvation of the world to the destitute and defenseless. It is risky business to leave it all in the hands of women and children. But that is exactly what God has done.
Reflect on where God is taking a risk with your life. How will you respond?[Martha Highstreet]
Our mailing address is:
The Upper Room Strategic Initiatives
PO Box 340007
Nashville, Tennessee 37203, United States
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