RPG Adults
THE BLESSING OF THE HOME (8)
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12
Ruth 4:11-22
Deuteronomy 6:17-25
“…fear the LORD our God,
for our good always, that
he might preserve us…”
THE BLESSING OF THE HOME (8)
God is always at work, even when man does not see His hand at work or understand the workings of providence. Despite the nature of the events at hand and how they seem to the naked eye, God is at work accomplishing His sovereign and divine purposes. The lessons of life’s circumstances were supposed to be lessons on theology for the children of Israel. Through them, they were to instruct their children on the sovereignty, faithfulness, mercy, power, goodness, justice and other attributes of God.
“Blessed be the LORD, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman” (Ruth 4:14). The birth of a son to Boaz and Ruth brought the women of Bethlehem to Naomi. She, who at the beginning thought and asked “why will ye go with me? are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?” as they left Moab for Bethlehem in Ruth 1:11, and who also at the point of entering Bethlehem responded to the question “is this Naomi?” with the answer “call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me” in Ruth 1:20, then had a clearer vision of the workings of God through His hand of providence. To her, the women now say “the LORD… hath not left thee this day without a kinsman.” This was a response of joy and gladness. The birth of a son to Ruth brought joy and gladness to all.
We also learn another lesson which Christ gave to the disciples in John 16, which is a lesson that is drawn from the nature and state of a woman at childbirth that presents to us the nature of man. At the fall, God said to Eve, “I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children” (Gen 3:16). Christ went on to say that “as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world” (John 16:21). Naomi’s sorrows were all forgotten for God’s grace and mercy were then clearly revealed. The past will not change, and history is fixed, but the clarity of God’s grace brings sense to what seemed senseless.
THOUGHT: The Christian testimony is like the light needed in darkness.
PRAYER: Pain may blind my view, but grant the light of Thy grace.