-- Tuesday, 9/7/10 -- GOD DID IT! -- Ruth 1-4

[J.R. & Bonnie Ricks]

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GOD DID IT! -- Ruth 1-4 NIV

 

If I were going to plan the lineage of the King of Kings, I'd pick the best of the best… wouldn't you?  I'd make sure he was a thoroughbred, with only the finest of bloodlines.  I'd arrange for him to be born in the best hospital, with the best physicians in attendance, and make sure he went home to a palace.  And, of course, the palace would be situated in the finest, most progressive city in the world where he could grow up steeped in culture and art and refinement.  Sounds logical, doesn't it?  But then, I don't have God's wisdom or His eternal purpose in mind, do I?

 

Look at Ruth.  Ruth was a Moabitess.  The Moabites were a nation that came out of the incestuous relationship between Lot and his oldest daughter (Genesis 19:30-38 NIV).  They were not Hebrew.  Their heritage was a bloodline that began with disgrace.  Strike one against Ruth.  She wasn't even one of the chosen people!  Marriage with Moabites wasn't forbidden like it was with the Canaanites, but it was discouraged.  They weren't on the list of desirable folks.

 

Then there's Boaz.  His bloodline wasn't so great either.  His mother, Rahab, was the harlot from Jericho, remember?  And his great-great-great-great-grandfather was Perez.  Remember where Perez came from?  He was the product of the incestuous union of Judah with his daughter-in-law, Tamar (Genesis 38 NIV).  What a great bloodline Boaz had!  Not what you or I would call a high recommendation for the great-grandfather of David or the ancestor of Jesus Christ!

 

You and I look at the surface.  We classify, categorize, compartmentalize and judge according to our own pre-conceived system of measurement.  But God doesn't care where you came from, what your bloodline is, what your nationality is.  He doesn't care whether you're tall or short, thin or fat, beautiful or ugly, young or old.  He doesn't care whether you're talented or slow or educated or illiterate.  He doesn't care what you've done in the past.  “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."  (1 Samuel 16:7b NIV)

 

Just as He did with the bloodline of Jesus, He will go from disgrace to grace.  He will overcome the disgrace of your past and fill your future with His grace through Jesus.  If you truly love Him, He can and will use you in His kingdom.  If you still think that is unlikely, look at all the people God used in the Bible – each one of which was the most unlikely one.  Judging by what God has done in the past, the more unlikely you think you are by the world's standards, the more likely God is to use you.  Why?  Because rather than your getting the glory for what you accomplish, everything you do will have a great big flashing sign that says, "GOD DID IT!"  And that's the way it should be!

 

 

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