Our Lord Jesus came from a line of people who seemed to make choices in an unusual way. They had a knack for taking life that was barren and falling apart, reshaping the old broken pieces into something more beautiful than the original.
Naomi went out from Judah with her husband in hope, looking for food and a secure future. But the choice turned out badly. First, she lost her husband. Then came the crushing blow of burying both her boys.
“Don’t call me Naomi,” she told them. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The LORD has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.” Ruth 1:20-21 NIV
Naomi’s daughter-in-law, Orpah, did what many in her precarious position would do; she turned back to retrace her old steps to start over. Ruth, however, didn’t see it that way. She decided to orient her future around the broken pieces of her mother-in-law – a relation not even of blood. But the clarity of Ruth’s decision-making, to create connection, came from her love, rather than the impulse to turn back in self-protection – and it was right on target.
But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” Ruth 1:16-17 NIV
Through sheer “luck”, Ruth began working in the fields owned by Boaz. His life had not turned out in the customary way either. He had acquired plenty of land over his life but had no wife – nor children to inherit those lands. At harvest time, he slept alone on the threshing floor. When Ruth came to him asking to be blanketed under the corner of his covering, he was surprised!
“The LORD bless you, my daughter,” he replied. “This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier: You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor. Ruth 3:10 NIV
This new relationship was not without risk to Boaz. To marry Ruth meant to take on the burden of her mother-in-law as well. And as family redeemers go, he was not even the primary relative. But the most eligible person turned them down — it was too complicated. So Boaz, an older man, took a leap at this later stage in his life. He made a decision to create connection from love, rather than to shrink back in fear and self-protection — and like Ruth, the choice was right on target.
From this newly constructed family — originally born of sadness and loss — came a son, Obed. And from this line came our own Redeemer: The One who has made all decisions out of the piercing clarity of love, with no thought for His own self protection. He is the One who takes our lives, barren and falling apart, and shapes them into something unexpectedly beautiful.
by Carie Grant
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