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Date: Tue, 14 Sep 2010 11:51:31 +0000
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- -- Tuesday, 9/14/10 -- OUR KINSMAN-REDEEMER - Ruth 3:1-4 [1 Update]
http://groups.google.com/group/takeaminute/t/753224a21b9bf1f4
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Topic: -- Tuesday, 9/14/10 -- OUR KINSMAN-REDEEMER - Ruth 3:1-4
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/takeaminute/t/753224a21b9bf1f4
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From: "J.R. & Bonnie Ricks" <j-r-and-bonnie@dogwoodministries.org>
Date: Sep 13 04:14PM -0500
Url: http://groups.google.com/group/takeaminute/msg/16bef74cbd5edf26
Take a Minute is a daily devotional ministry of
Dogwood Ministries, Inc.
If you need prayer. contact our partners in ministry.
SJ Ministries - Ministry of Prayer <http://sjministries.co.uk/>
Or simply send your request to SJMinistries@aol.com
All other requests, please see the end of the devotional
for Dogwood Ministries addresses
OUR KINSMAN-REDEEMER - Ruth 3:1-4 NIV
One day Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, "My daughter, should I not try
to find a home for you, where you will be well provided for? Is not Boaz,
with whose servant girls you have been, a kinsman of ours? Tonight he will
be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. Wash and perfume yourself, and
put on your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don't let
him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. When he
lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet
and lie down. He will tell you what to do."
In Old Testament times, one of the worst things that could happen to a woman
was to become a widow, because she would have no way to support herself.
But God had taken care of that situation through Jewish Law. The Law said
that if a woman became widowed, she could marry a brother of her dead
husband. If no brother was available, then the closest relative to the dead
husband could become a "kinsman-redeemer" and marry the widow.
This is exactly what Naomi was hoping for where Ruth was concerned, laying
the "groundwork" for Boaz to step forward and become Ruth's
kinsman-redeemer, even though Ruth was not a Jew. So Naomi told Ruth what
to do so that she would become "obvious" before Boaz, and would thereby be
saved from a hopeless life of poverty. What Naomi didn't know was how much
greater the future truly would be through the marriage of Ruth and Boaz who
would become the ancestors of Jesus!
One of the most fascinating things about Jewish law is how it's reflected in
virtually everything about Jesus. The more we learn about Jewish law and
tradition, the more we see Jesus in all of it. and the kinsman-redeemer is
no exception.
Without Jesus, our lives are just as hopeless as Ruth's was when she went
home with Naomi. The only "light" at the end of our tunnel is "an on-coming
train"! We have no security - in anything. Oh, we may think we have
security, especially if we have a good job, a big savings account, a happy
marriage, and live relatively debt-free. But companies go bankrupt or
"downsize", making once-secure jobs disappear. Economic crises can strike -
like a sudden illness which costs more than our medical insurance will cover
- and once-large savings accounts can dwindle quickly to zero. Happy
marriages can "go bad", ending in divorce, and even in the happiest
marriages, spouses can and do die, leaving the other alone. And no matter
how determined we are to live debt-free, things happen that cause us to
incur debt. and if one of these other things happens, paying that debt can
become very difficult.
What we haven't mentioned is eternity. without Jesus, there is no hope for
anyone. no hope at all. None of us can ever be good enough to enter Heaven
without Him, because just one sin is enough to keep us out of Heaven! And
even the best of people sin - maybe not as often or as obviously as others,
but every person sins in some way at some time - and with most of us, it's
almost a daily event! But none of this means that we are totally hopeless.
Just like Ruth found in Boaz, we can find our kinsman-redeemer in Jesus!
Even though He is God, Jesus lowered Himself to become human in order to be
the perfect sacrifice for our sins, saving us with His blood on the cross.
Just as Ruth was saved from a life of hopelessness, we are saved from an
eternity of hopelessness through Jesus' death on the cross where He
purchased us for Himself. And to become His possession, all we have to do
is believe.
Once we are His, all those other hopeless situations become less
threatening. less frightening. less hopeless. because we have Him to rely on
daily, no matter what else occurs in our lives. Now and forever, Jesus is
our kinsman-redeemer. Awesome, isn't it?
"For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold
that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from
your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without
blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was
revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God,
who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope
are in God." 1 Peter 1:18-21 NIV
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Personal correspondence to J.R. Ricks: j-r@dogwoodministries.org
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