The eyes of Christ

Want some spiritual fun?

Look back from time to time and see where God has been moving in your life.

One of the best, most intriguing books of the Bible for this purpose is the book of Ruth. Read the second chapter of the book and you get a feel for a young woman and a young man who find, among other things, each other. Eventually this romance leads to a marriage which leads to a child who is Obed, the father of Jesse, the grandfather of David, an ancester of Jesus.

Just a quick look at how love grows:

11-12 Boaz answered her, "I've heard all about you—heard about the way you treated your mother-in-law after the death of her husband, and how you left your father and mother and the land of your birth and have come to live among a bunch of total strangers. God reward you well for what you've done—and with a generous bonus besides from God, to whom you've come seeking protection under his wings."

13 She said, "Oh sir, such grace, such kindness—I don't deserve it. You've touched my heart, treated me like one of your own. And I don't even belong here!"

14 At the lunch break, Boaz said to her, "Come over here; eat some bread. Dip it in the wine."

So she joined the harvesters. Boaz passed the roasted grain to her. She ate her fill and even had some left over.

15-16 When she got up to go back to work, Boaz ordered his servants: "Let her glean where there's still plenty of grain on the ground—make it easy for her. Better yet, pull some of the good stuff out and leave it for her to glean. Give her special treatment."

17-18 Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. When she threshed out what she had gathered, she ended up with nearly a full sack of barley! She gathered up her gleanings, went back to town, and showed her mother-in-law the results of her day's work; she also gave her the leftovers from her lunch.

19 Naomi asked her, "So where did you glean today? Whose field? God bless whoever it was who took such good care of you!"

Ruth told her mother-in-law, "The man with whom I worked today? His name is Boaz."

20 Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, "Why, God bless that man! God hasn't quite walked out on us after all! He still loves us, in bad times as well as good!"

Naomi went on, "That man, Ruth, is one of our circle of covenant redeemers, a close relative of ours!"

21 Ruth the Moabitess said, "Well, listen to this: He also told me, 'Stick with my workers until my harvesting is finished.'"

22 Naomi said to Ruth, "That's wonderful, dear daughter! Do that! You'll be safe in the company of his young women; no danger now of being raped in some stranger's field."

23 So Ruth did it—she stuck close to Boaz's young women, gleaning in the fields daily until both the barley and wheat harvesting were finished. And she continued living with her mother-in-law.

Without getting into explanations about kinsmen redeers and gleaning and such, what one reads here is a story about a man falling in love with a woman that is as wonderful as any coming of age story found outside of scripture.

Back to that premise about looking to see where God is moving or has been moving. Look at it this way: Elimelech moves his family to Moab, a non-Jewish nation, taking his wife and two sons with him. The wife was named Naomi. The sons were Mahlon and Kilion. The sons and the father die. The sons have married Orpah and Ruth, but within 10 years, the sons are dead. Naomi hears that God is blessing his people in Judah and decides to go "home."

Ruth says she will go with her mother-in-law, and she does. Ruth says, "Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God."

ruth follows Naomi into a land that is not hers, to worship a God she doesn't know.

The end result? Obed, grandfather of David.

Anyone want to tell me that God wasn't involved in all this? That somehow all this happens with no gentle pushes or gentle invites?

Ah, come on. Naomi is devastated by all that has happened to her, so much so that she wants to change her name to something that means "The Almighty has made life bitter for me." And yet Ruth follows this bitter, whining woman to a world that isn't hers and a God she doesn't know?

Why?

Why do we do what we do where we do it when we do it? Haven't you had that feeling you can't understand and done that thing you don't have an explanation for? Certainly I have. But I look back and see with the eyes of Jesus and suddenly I understand.

It's Peter walking down the road and suddenly being filled with the wisdom that says, "You are the Christ," when before he was a fisherman.

It's Paul riding a horse to Damascus to do some terrible business only to be knocked into having the light of the world shining through his eyes.

It's Moses overcoming stuttering to speak for God himself.
It's Joseph running Egypt, Daniel petting the Lions and cradling the fire, and on and on.

God doesn't make us do anything; He invites and initiates and makes wonderful circumstances happen even after tragedy.

Ever wonder why you made such and such decision that proved to be one of the most meaningful decisions of your life?

The Bible says this Moabite woman, a woman from a country most famous for the killing (and sometimes eating) of its own children, was the ancester of Jesus.

Oh, the joy of seeing where God is moving. Open our eyes, Christ, to have your eyes, Jesus.