Daily Devotion, December 4, 2019

Devotion:

Read Ruth 4:9-17.

There is a wonderful little Advent study book on my shelf, Mothers Around The Manger, by J.Timothy Allen. The book highlights the stories surrounding Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Uriah’s wife. These four women are listed in the first chapter of Matthew’s gospel. Timothy Allen writes, “Their past history will no doubt make us squeamish and red-faced. It is difficult to hear their stories without passing judgment on them.” 

 One might think that the genealogy for the birth of a King would be “perfection.” But the beauty of Matthew’s genealogy is that it is stories of “imperfection” through which God’s love and grace worked to bring to the world our Savior.

In these and other stories in the family lineage, God is at work giving grace, redemption, new beginnings and second chances. God is weaving the story of salvation, by the gift of God’s own Son, Jesus, for the whole world.

Ruth is from the country of Moab. The people from Moab were looked upon with disdain by the Israelite people of their time. But Ruth remained faithful to her Mother-in-law, Naomi, in the midst of all of their sorrow and accompanied her back to Bethlehem. The people of Bethlehem had to remember the passage from Leviticus 19:34. “The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”

Boaz was not the closest relative to the family, but the one who was the closest relative didn’t want to have anything to do with someone from Moab. So Boaz became the “kinsman redeemer” and purchased the land of the sons of Naomi and he married Ruth. And the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 1 tells us the rest of the story. From a lineage which was not from just one group of people, Jesus came to be the Savior for all.

Personal Worship Option:

Family stories can be messy. God can work through our imperfections to make a difference in the lives of others. Is there someone in your world today who might feel like Ruth from another country who needs to be welcomed here?