It Isn't Just For You
God is writing a story beyond what you can imagine.
I want to make a pit stop in the book of Ruth for a second.
We covered this short book in class the other day and honestly, it was refreshing. It was refreshing to read a story of healthy human interaction that didn’t involve high drama and sex scandals. It’s simply a story about three people who are trying to best be faithful to God and one another and they must overcome challenges to do so.
But what I want to point out in this book actually has very little to do with the story itself. It has way more to do with the Kingdom of God at large and what God did generations later as a result of the story of Ruth and Boaz.
Here’s a fundamental fact we need to understand as we move forward:
The Kingdom of God is Generational
God plans to do something in your life that will impact our families in three generations.
Do we think generationally?
Perhaps many cultures think this generationally, but I would venture to say we do not.
Most of us could not recall the names of our great-grandparents. We don’t really do lineages, and we don’t sit around the table talking about the family tree. Part of that is because many of our family trees have been destroyed through death and divorce, but the other part is that we are a culture that focuses on the here and now. We hardly concern ourselves with the past.
As a result of hardly considering the past, we also hardly consider the future.
When we tell generational stories of the past, we start to realize quickly that our decisions today will also impact future generations.
Our great-grandparents did something that set us up to be who we are today, and we will do something that sets our great-grandchildren up to be who they will be in their day. Our great-grandparents either lived a life of faithfulness or faithlessness. Their decisions are having a ripple effect on our lives today. In the same way, we will either live a life of faithfulness or faithlessness, which will have a ripple effect on future generations.
So how do we see generational impact in the book of Ruth?
The great-grandson of Ruth and Boaz is King David.
What seems to be just a standard, run-of-the-mill story of God’s faithfulness in the lives of Ruth and Boaz turns out to be one of the more significant moments for the entire nation of Israel. If Boaz does not redeem Ruth & Naomi, we don’t get David. If Ruth bails on Naomi, we don’t get David.
If we don’t get David, we don’t get Jesus.
Can you imagine how often Ruth and Boaz sat around the dinner table with Obed (their son), talking about God’s faithfulness during that season of life?
And can you imagine how often Obed brought Jesse (Obed’s son) into that conversation?
And can you imagine the stories passed down to David and his brothers (Jesse’s sons)?
David grew up hearing stories of God’s faithfulness and the faithfulness of his family to God. It’s embedded in His family tree: we are people who are faithful to God. And all of that is kicked off by Ruth and Boaz’s seemingly normal obedience to God’s commands.
Ruth decides to worship Yahweh with Naomi
Boaz makes provisions for the foreigner in his land
Boaz follows the kinsman redeemer practices
It’s a normal story. Normal obedience.
It’s a story of God’s faithfulness.
And it was written on the hearts of the family forever.
And the same thing is happening in your family.
Moments.
Normal, everyday, moments.
They happen in your life, and we'll miss them if we’re not careful.
This is one of the many reasons we can’t afford to take a “day off” from following Jesus. Even the concept of choosing some days to invest in our relationship with Jesus and some days not is a misunderstanding about how all of this works. Deuteronomy 30 and Colossians 3 both have the same central message for us: this is our life.
And when Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, he said to them, “Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.”
—Deuteronomy 32:45-47
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
—Colossians 3:3-4
There are every day moments in your life for you to choose life. When we choose life, we are giving the upcoming generations a chance at real, authentic, abundant life as well.
Final Encouragement
So, what do we do?
We live life. We fight for faithfulness to God. We fight to remain in His presence and live fruitful lives. And we tell the coming generations of everything God has done to show Himself faithful.
What God is doing in your life today isn’t just for you. It’s also for your lineage and all who would believe through them.
—Brandon
