Love Story

Meeting Boaz at the Threshing Floor – Part 1

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment 
Remain tonight, and in the morning, if he will redeem you, good; let him do it. But if he is not willing to redeem you, then, as the Lord lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning.” So, she lay at his feet until the morning but arose before one could recognize another. And he said, “Let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.” Ruth 3:13-14 ESV

The book of Ruth is both one of the most romantic stories of the Bible as well as a beautiful picture of our relationship to Jesus Christ. It begins with a lovely, yet poor widow named Ruth. Ruth had chosen the difficult life of an immigrant, in order to care for her aging mother-in-law Naomi, and in the process had come to trust in Naomi’s God. Together they returned to the long-abandoned family home in the village of Bethlehem. With little savings, no promised help and no definite plans they face a desperate situation. So, on day one, Ruth goes to farm nearby where the men are harvesting barley. Being the accepted custom of the day to provide for the poor, Ruth quietly trails behind the workers gathering any heads of grain that had been missed. Suddenly onto the scene strides the wealthy (and single!) farmer named Boaz. Immediately, Boaz catches sight of Ruth and he not only likes what he sees, but he admires the loyalty and grit of this young lady of whom he has already heard. Of course, if this were a Hallmark movie there would be lots of drama, romantic mood music, and a bad guy or two lurking on the horizon. But the Bible paints a far simpler picture for us of Boaz’s growing love for Ruth, as he waits to see what God will do. Now me, if I were Boaz, I would have marched down to the cottage where Ruth and Naomi lived, knocked on the door and asked Ruth out for a date! But not Boaz, and not Jesus either. Yes, Jesus loves me, and the Bible tells me so. But Jesus also waits for us to come, just as Boaz waited…. So, stay tuned tomorrow to see how God mysteriously unfolds this amazing love story!

The Greatest Love Story

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.       Colossians 1:13-14 ESV

Okay, so along with most guys I am pretty convinced that Valentine’s day is a gigantic scam concocted to manipulate us into buying chocolates and flowers one more time for our wives or girl friends. But I confess it is actually a lot of fun seeing her opening up my annual offering and who doesn’t love a good love story? Whether it be Cinderella and her slipper or Snow White and the Prince’s kiss we are all delighted when it gets to the wedding and happily ever after part. Though at first glance, it may not seem very romantic, the greatest love story of them all is in the Bible. Today’s verse points out that unlike the beautiful princesses, in the fairy tales, the ones God rescues are not innocent beauties. Instead, God has fallen in love with a bunch of scruffy, sinful and selfish human beings – yup that’s you and me!

Wondering why God would ever do this is a great question for another day, but for now, let’s just look at how God went about making us His own. Our verse begins by saying that, just like Cinderella God rescued us. We were also prisoners, except that we were in that condition not because anyone tricked us, kidnapped us or put us under a spell but because we chose to live a selfish life. But amazingly, God didn’t just leave us there, instead He came to our rescue. And the verse goes on to say that next God redeemed us. Just like going into the pawn shop to buy back something that we put in hock, God found us, and willingly paid the price for our sin, by the cross of Jesus. Now we are His because He bought us with His own blood. Then comes the happily ever after part, when God brings us home, and rather than punishing us for our selfishness and sin, He forgives, washes us clean and sets us down by His side to live forever. Now who doesn’t think that living in Heaven with a God like that is not the greatest love story of them all?