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Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, ‘My daughter, I need to seek some security for you, so that it may be well with you. Now here is our kinsman Boaz, with whose young women you have been working. See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing-floor. Now wash and anoint yourself, and put on your best clothes and go down to the threshing-floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. When he lies down, observe the place where he lies; then, go and uncover his feet and lie down; and he will tell you what to do.’ She said to her, ‘All that you tell me I will do.’ So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When they came together, the Lord made her conceive, and she bore a son. Then the women said to Naomi, ‘Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without next-of-kin; and may his name be renowned in Israel! He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has borne him.’ Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her bosom, and became his nurse.The women of the neighbourhood gave him a name, saying, ‘A son has been born to Naomi.’ They named him Obed; he became the father of Jesse, the father of David. (Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17)
Good day dear Friend! I pray this finds you and yours doing well. The elections are over, and God is still God, Jesus is still Lord AND King of Kings, and the Holy Spirit is Comforter and Guide. May we pray for our nation and our leaders.
It's just a few weeks until we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. What a day that is, will be, now and forever. And today's story reminds us that it was a long road from there to here. We can add to the list in the title sent to you today, and I have to admit I don't remember all that was in it, but here are some realities: The road to God's glory in Jesus was paved with poverty, hunger, hopelessness, foreigners, widows, those without families, and some smart planning. Though most know the story of Ruth (she got her own book in the Bible, y'all!); she was a foreigner, and not just a foreigner, an enemy of God's people type foreigner. She was from Moab and she married a Jewish man, who dies younger leaving her with no children and no hope. She and her sister-in-law have to decide what to do, since both lost their husbands at the same time. One chooses to go home to her people, Ruth decides to stay with Naomi, her mother-in-law and return to Judah. This troubled the older woman, because she did not think there would be a way for her to provide for Ruth, but in this passage falls upon a clever idea to provide some security for Ruth. Ruth had been working, add farmer worker to our list, as a harvester of barley for a man named Boaz. The mother-in-law gets the brilliant idea of setting us Boaz with this young, eligible woman, Ruth, for marriage. The plan, as we read, was to make Ruth smell nice, get prettied up, and make it known she was available for matrimony. The custom was to lie at a man's feet once he was nice and full and perhaps a bit inebriated. The plan called for her to uncover his feet, something most men who might be cold don't especially like; but it got his attention when she lay by his feet. (And we pray that he too had taken a bath and made his feet not like the old Gaither joke: "You swallowed my socks!" - I'll share it below).
The plan worked. Boaz liked what he saw and took her for his bride. They conceived a child right away and named him Obed. Obed, as the story shares, became the father of Jesse, and Jesse was the father of David, as in King David. Wow. Who would have thunk that God could work in this way. But think about it, your life and mine, may have had some similar circumstances. It could be story of hopelessness; all is lost; how could we possible make it through this ordeal-type story. Or, why would he marry such a woman? She's nothing but trouble! Him for a husband? What is she thinking? You get the picture. It's just like God to make things work when it seems that can't. God can take the most common person and make them outstanding. He can take any situation and use it for His glory. Little did that woman Ruth know that at the death of her husband, she would become the great grandmother of Israel's greatest king? When she had to eat leftover grain, did she realize her great-grandson would feast at a banquet table one day as king? Did Ruth know that humbling herself to lie at the feet of an older man would result in one day, their offspring being the Savior of the world? No matter what your current situation, turn it over to God and trust Him.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, great is Thy faithfulness; morning by morning new mercies we see. May the mercy shown Ruth and Naomi be shown to this dear reader and their situation. Bless them with a newness of vision and grant that vision turn into reality. Turn their despair or fear into a song of victory! Your victory! This we pray in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen!
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! You may be picking barley or cotton today, tomorrow you may just be sitting in a place of honor! Live that way now!
Eradio Valverde
Okay, so years ago I went to see The Gaithers in concert in San Antonio. They are superb entertainers and love to tell jokes and they told of a couple about to be wed who each went to their mothers to ask advice. The bride suffered from bad breath. The groom from stinky feet. Their fear was that upon waking up the first morning as bride and groom their smell might ruin the marriage. The mother of the bride said, "Honey, while your husband sleeps, get up and brush your teeth and gargle. Then go back to bed. The mother of the groom said, "Honey, take along extra pairs of socks. While your bride sleeps get up and change your socks and by morning she won't smell the stinky ones. That night, the man went into the bathroom and changed out of his stinky socks and was going back to bed when he bumped into his bride; smelling her breath, the man said, "Hey, you ate my socks!"
