God's Story: Ruth

God's Story, Ruth. So part of God's Story is about a woman named Ruth, and it begins like this. Ruth lived in a place called Moab, and was married to a guy who was part of God's special family, the Israelites. A few years later though, Ruth's husband died. Instead of returning to her family, which would have been expected, she stayed with Naomi, her husband's mom. Naomi tried to get Ruth to go back to her family in Moab, but Ruth wouldn't leave Naomi, no matter what. In fact, she wanted to go back to Israel with her. Ruth said, your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. So they both returned to Naomi's home in Bethlehem. Back then though, it was hard for women to find work. Usually, they had to be taken care of by their husband or a dad. It's really hard to imagine that now, but Naomi and Ruth might not have even known how they'd survive. At first, to get food, Ruth went to the fields of a man named Boaz, and followed his harvesters around. If they dropped anything, even just a piece of grain, she picked it up. This was called gleaning. Ruth worked from morning to night, and barely even took a break. Boaz noticed. He told his workers to leave behind some extra grain for her to gather. When Naomi heard about this, she was overjoyed, because Boaz was Naomi's relative, and what's called a family redeemer. That meant that it was his responsibility to take care of his family. If anybody was going to rescue Ruth and Naomi, it was Boaz. Kids, we have a redeemer too. It's Jesus. He's the one who saves us. Anyway, this gave Naomi an idea. She told Ruth to put on her best clothes and perfume, and then go to the place where Boaz was sleeping. Naomi said that once Boaz had gone to sleep, Ruth should lay down by his feet. Now, this may sound like a weird plan, but it was actually really brave. Ruth trusted Naomi and obeyed. When Boaz woke up, he was surprised. After all, someone was lying at his feet. That's not exactly a normal night. When Boaz asked who Ruth was, she said, Now Boaz understood. Ruth wanted Boaz to marry her so that she and Naomi would both be taken care of. Boaz agreed. This was a huge deal. Ruth wasn't an Israelite, but she wanted to follow God anyway. By marrying Boaz, she got to officially be part of God's family. In fact, Ruth's great-grandson was King David, and many, many years later, Jesus, the rescuer, was born into the same family line. Now, because of Jesus, we get to be a part of God's family too. So in case you missed it, here's the quick version. Ruth was from Moab. Her husband died. Ruth was left with his mom, Naomi. Naomi told her to go home. Ruth said no. She went to Israel with Naomi. They needed someone to take care of them. Ruth gleaned in a field. Boaz noticed. He left extra grain for Ruth. Naomi made a plan. Ruth obeyed it. She wanted to marry Boaz. He agreed. Ruth became part of God's special family, and we can too. And that's a part of God's story.