Thursday, April 17, 2008

I should have known better than to ask Josiah to help me wash the Suburban. And I certainly should have known better than to hand him the hose. I hardly need explain how cold the water was, or how he seemed unable to stop eliciting funny squeaks and complaints from me. “You never just say ‘stop’,” he defended himself. “You sound like you’re having fun.” That’s because I think it’s funny. I know I make funny noises when doused with cold water. I’m just hoping he’ll be gentleman enough to stop without me asking. The Suburban is now waxed and shiny, vacuumed inside and ready for sale. It will be something new for us not to have a vehicle that seats more than five people.

I opened my Bible to the book of Ruth and smiled. Fairytales are silliness. Romance novels are disgusting. Feminist literature is nauseating. But here, at the end of the tale of humanism, I find a woman I can admire and emulate. Not even a Jew. Excluded from the commonwealth of Israel. Married to a disobedient man. Widowed at a young age. Ruth made the decision to leave her people and her country in pursuit of Yahweh and in service to her mother-in-law. Humble, faithful, industrious and hopeful, Ruth rescued her Jewish family from ruin, her mother-in-law from despair and herself from paganism at home and despising in Israel by throwing herself upon the mercy of the God of Israel. Her trust reaped bountiful rewards through a kind kinsman redeemer who recognized her character and married her, placing her in the ancestry to Christ. “Ah,” said the women of Israel, to Naomi, her mother-in-law. “Ruth is better to you than seven sons!” Ruth’s faithfulness left Naomi better provided for than her husband or sons had ever done. In this is the beauty of the story: the truth that Jesus is our kinsman redeemer, waiting for us to come to Him and say, “Can you help me?” When we throw ourselves on His mercy and kindness, we find that He will not rest until He has redeemed us, made us respectable, beautiful and finally, brought us home to be with Him forever.

Here I kneel at His feet, in awe of His kindness in noticing me, a humble maidservant, foreign to His people.

Lord, I praise Thee, precious Lord!
My purity has been restored,
My heart seems to again be one
Delighting in Thy Risen Son.

And, Oh, the thoughts that weighed me down,
Have flown, Thou art the only sound
My ears or heart can hear or heed.
At last, my Love, Thou’rt all I need.