“The women said to Naomi: ‘Praise be to the LORD, who this day has not left you without a kinsman-redeemer'” (Ruth 4:14).
Have you ever noticed that you really don’t appreciate something until it’s gone? We have this terrible tendency to take things for granted. We start off taking our parents for granted.
“I must really be cute and special.” We think to ourselves as our parents coo and care for us. We assume that we are the center of the universe and that they will always be there caring for us.
We take our homes, our cities, our schools, our churches, our nation for granted in the same way. We forget that they are not promised. That we are not owed these benefits. We weren’t there when the price was paid to buy these things for us.
As we get older, some of us begin to understand the price of things. Someone had to pay the price for all the grace we get.
In the book of Ruth, a widow named Naomi had her world emptied. She lost her home in Bethlehem, her husband, and her two sons. She was homeless, widowed, and hopeless. She changed her name to “Mara,” or “Bitter” because of the sorry state of her soul.
But the book closes with Naomi’s arms and heart full again. What began with a famine ended with fullness, what started with a funeral climaxed with a wedding, and a baby. Naomi was “Naomi” again, except even better. Naomi had experienced redemption. Her heart was full of praise.
If you’ve never known emptiness or loss, it’s hard to know redemption. Sure, we can say that we appreciate what Christ the Redeemer has done for us, but until we come to the end of our self-centered selves, we can’t really praise Him.
Have you come to the place in your life where you finally appreciate your need for redemption? In Luke chapter seven, Jesus taught that the one who is forgiven most, loves most. When we experience the emptiness and death of our own situation apart from Christ, we are finally ready to receive and rejoice fully in the redemption He offers.
I’m praising God today that He has not left us without a kinsman-redeemer!
I really enjoyed this blog. I agree now more than ever that we as humans take things for granted. But we have to remember that we aren’t promised tomorrow and that Christ wants us to live for TODAY! Thank you for the common reminder to live to fullest! Because when it’s gone… it’s gone.
Love you!