Reclaiming the Truth
“And again they wept together and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye. But Ruth clung tightly to Naomi. Look, Naomi said to her, “your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. You should do the same.” Ruth 1.14-15
“Then Peter began to speak: ‘I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism35 but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.’” Acts 10.34-35
Redeeming the Time
Ruth is one of four women mentioned in Matthew’s recount of the lineage of Jesus. In Ruth, we find a woman who was not a Jew, a Moabite even, a race often despised by Israel, and yet she finds herself in the very genealogy of Jesus. This is no mistake. This reveals the character of our God who pursues without partiality. This pursuit of Ruth and her mother-in-law was unmerited. There was not a transaction, or a behavior, or a religious act that Ruth did to gain such pursuit from God. Ruth simply walked through the invitational doors of a pursuit of God that would redeem her family on earth and make her a participant in the greatest redemption story the world has ever known.
Just like Ruth, God’s presence in our lives is a price paid by Christ himself for the sake of His love to enter into the world. His invitation is available to all, no matter who you are or where you are. No matter our history or our sin, nothing has taken us too far out of reach of our God. No race, gender, nation or tribe stops our God from His pursuit of us, of you. The glory of the story of Christ is that He came for the nations, and He died for the nations. Crucified through Christ are all ethnocentric and racial barriers. God’s redeeming love pushes through borders, religions and tribes to rescue those He calls His very own.
Praise God for being a God of all creation who pursues all nations.
Reflection
- How have you experienced God’s pursuit?
- How have you seen God’s pursuit for His whole world?
- Can you see allowances in your story today which may be a sign of God’s pursuit for all nations?
Resting in His Redemption
Rest and receive the song of Revelation 5.
9 And they sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased for God
persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign[b] on the earth.”
Revelation 5.9-10
