The Best for Last

"So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son." — Ruth 4:13

You’ve heard it said in a variety of contexts about saving your best for last. Sometimes it’s said when a basketball player hits a clutch shot at the buzzer to win the game. Or an actor gives a standing-ovation performance in the final show before closing. Or a student aces the final exam. In each case, they saved their best effort for the last possible moment – and it helped win the championship, earn accolades, or pass the course!

In a way, I think that God saved his best blessing for last in the story of Ruth. As we come to the final chapter in this short book, Ruth and Naomi’s situation has changed dramatically from one of hardship and a bleak future to one of restoration and healing, and a bright future.

God Sees You!

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. 

 Luke 1:26-27

Late last year, I had the privilege of going to the Holy Land. It was my second trip, and it was so meaningful. One afternoon, we made the trip to Nazareth, a very busy, Islamic city today … but a very, very, very small Jewish community at the time of Christ, perhaps as low as 35 families. 

In fact, Nazareth was so small, forgotten, and disrespected that Nathanael even said, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46). (I believe we know the answer to that one.)

What We See in Each Other

1 Samuel 16:1–13
“The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

1 Samuel 16:7
Samuel was sent to the house of Jesse to find a new king. When he got there, Samuel saw Eliab, one of Jesse’s sons. “Surely, he is the one God has chosen to be the next king,” Samuel thought. Evidently, like the previous king, Saul, Eliab was tall and striking. But Eliab was not the one God had in mind.

God warned Samuel not to assess people by their physical appearance. God reminded the old prophet that he doesn’t look at the outside; he looks at the inside. So each of Jesse’s sons passed before Samuel, but God did not indicate that any of them was the man God had sent him to find. Finally, David, the youngest son, came in from the fields. Then the Lord spoke to Samuel, telling him this was the right one.

FAITHFUL PERSEVERANCE

“But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.” But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved." Hebrews 10:38-39

Alice Yuan continues her testimony we began yesterday:

“The second trial came from the Communist party. Every day for nineteen years, I had to report to the police station, where for six hours, they put pressure on me. They said that I would never see my husband again, that I should divorce him and that I should give up my faith. With God’s help I kept going. Praying with my eyes closed, I endured the interrogations every day.

“The third trial consisted of the hard work. After I had been pressured by the security police for six hours, I still had to work for eight hours to earn a living. I had to push handcarts filled with building materials. The carts were much too heavy. I was completely exhausted and was already tired before I started. In the winter, it was even worse. Sometimes I had to shovel cement up onto a floor above my head. The work was dirty, hard and cold, but I achieved my quota. The others were surprised and wondered where I got the energy from.

Defining Success The Measure of Success God Uses is Faithfulness

Nevin Bass

“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” Josh 1:8

Defining success is extremely important in any endeavor. It is the end product one is attempting to achieve that determines what objectives or goals are set to achieve “success.” Then objectives or goals determine methods and shape tasks. Right down the line to the smallest of processes and procedures, everything that is attempted finds its genesis in the definition of success. If one does not know what success is, one will not know when it is achieved. Many wander aimlessly through life, never reaching fulfillment or finding satisfaction because they have no goal. In this sense, our view of success is integrally associated with what we see as our purpose.

I believe that defining success is an essential element of a life of faith. To fail to allow God to define success in our life is to allow something or someone other than God to set our goals for us. If we do not surrender this task to God, we will begin a journey without direction. Every journey acquires a direction at some point even if it is uncertain or tentative. If God does not define success for us, somewhere along life’s path, either circumstances or others, or a combination of these will fix this target for us.