Devo Week 24

Mercy to Moab -- Better Together Than Apart 

Don't despise small beginnings as they can have a wide impact. Mercy to one relationship can shift an entire people group. It was true with the Samaritan woman, Ruth the Moabite, Rahab the Canaanite, and perhaps a relationship you have. Relationships are waiting to be impacted by Jesus in every tongue, tribe and nation!

Key Concept: The Power of Relationship

There are many ways to effect change in society. And numerous ways, approaches and strategies have been employed to spread the Good News. Relationship is one way the Kingdom of God comes without observation and consistently advances the Gospel. (Luke 17:20)

The covenant friendship between Ruth and Naomi changed the course and social status of Ruth's life. There were only two Gentile women included in the genealogy of Jesus: Ruth and Rahab. This happened through their relationship with God's people. Their kindness toward God's people grafted them into God's plan.

Sow into relationships. Cultivate them. Learn from them. And look for the hand of God in your relationships. Jesus impacted the Samaritan community through the woman at the well and the area of the Decapolis through the deliverance of the Gadarene demoniac. (John 4:1-42; Mark 5:1-20) His many, one-on-one encounters with others caused the Kingdom to come without observation.

Word Definition: Kinsman-Redeemer or "Goel" (noun)

-- in the Hebrew Bible and the rabbinical tradition, the "goel" is a person who, as the nearest relative of another, is charged with the duty of restoring the rights of another and avenging his wrongs. One duty of the "goel" was to redeem (purchase back) a relative who had been sold into slavery.

Excerpt from Devotional 24 with highlighted word:

"The same was true with Naomi and Ruth. Naomi’s two sons had passed away, and there was a famine in Israel. Her other daughter-in-law left, but Ruth, a Moabite, made a serious choice -- a covenant -- to stay with Naomi in Israel, even as a foreigner and a widow. Her decision to stay led to her marriage with Boaz, the kinsman redeemer of Naomi’s clan."

Scripture: Ruth 1:16

“But Ruth replied, ‘Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.’”