Family Ties

Scripture: Ruth 4 Key Verse: 4:13-15
Then Boaz took Ruth home, and she became his wife. He slept with her, and the LORD gave her the ability to become pregnant. So she gave birth to a son. The women said to Naomi, "Praise the LORD, who has remembered today to give you someone who will take care of you. The child's name will be famous in Israel. he will bring you new life and support you in your old age. your daughter-in-law who loves you is better to you than seven sons, because she has given birth."

Objective:
This is all about Boaz working it out to help out Naomi and Ruth, Ruth becoming Boaz's wife, and Ruth and Boaz having a son that will help take care of Naomi and be the grandfather to David.

Application:
Lineage is important to the Israelites, over and over you see lists of genealogy. So-and-so begat so-and-so. To me this helps in understanding that the Bible isn't a fluff propaganda piece to make Jewish or Christian belief systems look good all the time. Why would you want to show that King David had Moabite blood. The only reason is that it was true, and God ordained it to be.

God has a funny way of making the best of all situations. Here we have two relatives that have the opportunity to help out Naomi and Ruth. One chooses not too because it will mar his inheritance. The other does help not caring about his inheritance, and receives an even greater one by becoming the great grandfather to David. Sometimes we need to put aside our selfish sides to embrace others.

Prayer:
Lord help me reach out of my comfort zone and embrace the people around me. Help me be a person that can be a friend to all. Not that I must like what everyone does or how they live, but help me be able to find common ground. Help us make this world a better place by crossing the lines we have drawn in the sand.