Just One Request Away

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The famous vow that Ruth made to her mother-in-law, Naomi, has been repeated in countless wedding ceremonies—though not a single one, I'm sure, where the bride has actually made the vows to her new mother-in-law!

"Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God…" (Ruth 1:16, NIV).

But the words Ruth spoke to Boaz are of much greater significance that what she said to Noami.

Ruth has been working in the fields of one of Naomi's relatives, Boaz. She has been protected and provided for as she has worked. But she is not safe.

In the night, at the end of harvest, Ruth goes to Boaz and, as he sleeps, she lies down at his feet. When the man perceives that someone is lying there, she says to him: "'I am your servant Ruth," she said. "Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a kinsman-redeemer'" (Ruth 3:9, NIV).

Ruth would never enjoy the security of the family inheritance unless Boaz claimed her, covered her, and accepted her as his bride.

The sun shines and the rain falls on the righteous and on the unrighteous (Matthew 5:45). We all enjoy the protection and provision that comes from God whether or not we acknowledge Him. But it is only those who have been "covered" by Jesus, our Kinsman-Redeemer, through faith in His sacrifice on the cross on our behalf, who will enjoy the riches of the inheritance waiting for us in eternity.

Boaz knew Ruth's need. He was well-versed in the law of the land. But Ruth had to ask. Similarly, though the Lord knows our need of salvation, He will not impose it on anyone who doesn't want it, and He values it too much to give it away to those who don't see just how valuable it is. We have to ask.

When Paul was presenting his apologetic to the people gathered on Mars Hill in Athens, he commented on their altar to AN UNKNOWN GOD. He described to his audience who their "unknown" God is and how He had revealed Himself. Then Paul said:  "God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:27, 28, NIV).

That "covering" which would result in an eternal inheritance was just one short request away. It still is.

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