-- Sunday, 9/19/10 -- JUST A NICE LITTLE LOVE STORY? Ruth 4:13-18
J.R. & Bonnie Ricks
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JUST A NICE LITTLE LOVE STORY? Ruth 4:13-18 NIV
Generally, when we look at the book of Ruth, we see a nice little love story… or even a great little love story. And on the surface, that’s what it is… but in reality, it’s a story that shows us how deep and long-reaching the work of God is in our lives and in the lives of those who follow us.
Look at Naomi, Ruth and Boaz… There’s nothing really outstanding about these people… In fact, if we were able to look around back during that time, there were probably many others whose circumstances were similar to those in which these three people found themselves. Granted, these three people each had admirable qualities… qualities that we all can and should emulate in our own lives. But that’s not all there is to this story…
This story shows us how each of us may have an impact on the generations to come after us… People we will never live to meet may be vastly affected by what we do and say today… and God arranges it all…
Many of the things that happen in our lives have the potential of affecting our great-great-great grandchildren and beyond. Look at Ruth… a young woman who was a foreigner in her chosen homeland… a lowly widow in a world that thought little of women alone. And yet, God used the circumstances of Ruth’s life to make her the grandmother of Kind David, the greatest King of Israel, and even better, she became an ancestor of Jesus Christ!
You and I have no way of knowing who will come after us. We have no way to know how our lives might touch the lives of those who follow us. But we do have a way to know how to live our lives now, today… We each have the opportunity to be the kind of ancestor that anyone would be glad to have in his family tree. So, as you work your way through this life, remember this… And do your best to live wisely in a way that honors the Lord… so that one day, someone will look back up his or her family tree and say, “That great lady (or gentleman) was my ancestor… and that makes me want to live my life the way he (or she) did… so that my descendants will feel the same way about me.”
No matter what happens in your life, remember the impact it might have on those who follow you, and handle each situation accordingly.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Hebrews 12:1 NIV
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