Day 6

While I was reading the book of Ruth, I wondered what if Ruth had embraced a philosophy of caution and went back to Moab? The negative repercussions would have been devastating and widespread. Naomi would become one of the world's displaced and impoverished widows. Boaz would continue basking in glories of the past. But Ruth did not embrace caution, she was God centered. She threw caution to the wind. She refused to live as though every new intersection of her life was flashing an amber light. Ruth is new wine poured into Israel's old wineskins. She is a breath of fresh air. From her courage, Naomi's broken-down life is recharged. Boaz awakens to an expanded life of a man blessed. A family is rescued. New life spreads through the Bethlehem highway, through the fields of Boaz, past the city gates, and into the small veins of a newborn baby boy. The birth of Obed is a picture of the gospel - suffering and sacrifice, the joy of renewed life, and hope for the future all mingled together.

This is the Gospel of Ruth.

By: Iris Grimes