Devotion:
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Read Ruth 1:16.
When I use this beautiful verse in a wedding, I always explain ahead of time to the bride and groom that it is a daughter-in-law speaking to her mother-in-law. The couple is often surprised, because, as so many have done before, they have assumed that these are words spoken between a man and woman as they approach their marriage. The Book of Ruth is a short one, but it is packed with a rich narrative of death, commitment, love, and honor.
Ruth was a Moabite woman, and the people of Moab were often depicted as enemies with the Israelites. Yet here Ruth shows such love for Naomi, an Israelite and the mother of her deceased young husband, that she will leave her own homeland to go and live with Naomi. The greatest surprise comes when the widowed Ruth marries the Israelite Boaz and they have a son, Obed, the grandfather of David into whose lineage Jesus was born. Think of it, God chose to have Jesus’ earthly bloodline include a Moabite, a foreigner and alien. Expect God to do just that…the unexpected!
Pray with me: Forgive me, Almighty God, when I try to shape you and fit you into the box of my limited understanding and comprehension. Help me to know you as you really are, even when you surprise me by doing the unexpected. Amen.
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