As I was sitting at work, I came upon the story of Ruth. I have read this book of the Bible numerous times, yet I asked myself, “What is so special about Ruth?” In case you haven’t read it, Ruth was a Moabite woman who had married into an Israelite family. Her mother-in-law was Naomi and her father-in-law was Elimelech. One day, Mahlon and Kilion (Naomi’s sons) died. They were married to Ruth and Orpah, both Moabite. When this happened, Naomi told both women to go return to their homelands and to their gods. Orpah left but Ruth clung onto Naomi and made an oath to remain with Naomi till death separated them. Since it’s time for the barley harvest, Ruth decides to pick up stalks of grain. She gathers grain on a field which is owned by Boaz.
Boaz went over and said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Stay right here with us when you gather grain; don’t go to any other fields. Stay right behind the young women working in my field. See which part of the field they are harvesting, and then follow them. I have warned the young men not to treat you roughly. And when you are thirsty, help yourself to the water they have drawn from the well.” Ruth 2:8-9 (NLT)
For this, Ruth was very thankful. I know you are thinking, how does Ruth have anything to do with what I am facing? In part, it doesn’t, but it does. Why you may ask? As I read the rest of the book of Ruth, I learned what was so special about her. To make things short, Ruth married Boaz and bore a child from that marriage. What made her special is that she was the great-grandmother of King David. I wonder what went through Ruth’s mind when her husband died? I wonder if she thought that she’d never have children. Similarly, although my spouse hasn’t died, she is out there in the far country. Although my wife is pregnant with the other man’s child, will God give us more children? I’ve thought many times, will I ever have more children? Only God knows what will happen. All I know is that God, the creator of the universe, has our lives in His hands.
I can’t help but wonder how our generations will look. Our generations depend on our marriage stand. What if our stand or marriage problems aren’t JUST about us? What if the enemy is trying to destroy our marriage which will then destroy our future generations? The devil sometimes wants to destroy the next pastor, preacher, leader, worshipper, who will come from our lineage/generations. Remember, the enemy tried to destroy Jesus since the beginning of time. The enemy tried to kill Jesus when He was born. The enemy tried to destroy Jesus’ plan and purpose for humanity when he tried to tempt Jesus. The enemy knew of the power of Jesus and knew what He was capable of. What if I told you our generations are full of pastors, leaders, evangelists, preachers, worshippers, prophets or world leaders? If God is by their side, our generations can and will change the future. They will leave a mark on this Earth. They will worship our God and their generations will worship our God.
Just looking at my child, I can’t believe that she is so resilient. She smiles, she laughs, she jokes around. Although she occasionally misses her mom when I have her, she seems like a happy baby. She loves me so much and I love her so much. A few days ago, as I saw my daughter, I couldn’t help but think how much she looks like her mother. I couldn’t help it and as I held her hand, I told her, “I’ll never give up on you.” Let’s not give up on our children. Let’s not give up on our future children. Let’s not give up on our children’s children and their children. Their whole lives depend on us and our decisions. If we decide to give up now, there lives will look completely different. They will be just another statistic of the dreaded divorce rate. They will be part of a broken home. There’s too many out there. The enemy has destroyed not only around 50 percent of all marriages, he has destroyed around that same rate of Christian marriages. We must stand up to him and tell him no more. Enough is enough. No more wavering in our stand. This isn’t JUST about us or our spouses, this is about our generations too. Look at the following verse.
All those listed above include fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the Babylonian exile, and fourteen from the Babylonian exile to the Messiah. Matthew 1:17 (NLT)
Ever since Abraham was born, God had a plan for him and his descendants. Look at how great his descendants and lineage have been. Look at how important they became, not only to history, but also to our faith. God used Abraham’s descendants immensely. Our Messiah, our Redeemer, our Savior is just one of those descendants. Our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and eternity to us, is part of those descendants.
This devotional is for our born or unborn generations. This is for our children and their children and their children. God will restore. God will recover all we have lost. God will use not only our story, but God will use our children. Don’t give up on them. Give them a chance. You’ll never regret it; I promise you that. Hearts are softened. Eyes are opened. The veil comes off. Prodigals do come home. Prodigals WILL come home, in His time. We are almost home.
God bless,
Jesse in Arizona
