Acceptance of God!

I don’t think I’ve made it public yet that my wonderful husband bought me a new car stereo for Christmas! With all the time I spend in the car and not having a stereo since my car was stolen in February, it was a real treat! He came down to work one afternoon and just before he presented it, he excitedly exclaimed, “I have your present, but you can’t cry. Okay?” And then he handed me the “face plate” of the stereo. I just looked at it and him in disbelief. I also argued, “Will, you know that there’s only sliced wires in there, right?” So, he smiled and led me to my car (which he had “stolen” from the parking lot to install). I did cry, by the way. =)

So, anyway, I’ve been so pleased to have it! I know what’s going on in the world again and even what’s new in music! =) I also have really enjoyed listening to several sermons! Yesterday morning, I heard Alistair Begg talking about Boaz’s graciousness toward Ruth & Naomi and he paralleled it as a picture of God’s graciousness towards us (Gentiles), as His covenant people. Boaz’s hospitality extended racial, social and economic lines. Ruth was a poor widow and a descendent of the Moabites (Esau) while Boaz was from Bethlehem (from the tribe of Jacob or Israel, Jew). He not only permitted her to pick from his fields (even instructing his pickers to loosen the fine crop they had gathered so she could collect it), but also included her as the pickers and he sat and ate. Throughout the Old Testament, the men were instructed to annihilate and not to make treaties or intermarry with those they conquered because their hearts would be taken away from serving Him. From passages like this, some have mistakenly concluded that God declared the Jews as the elite class. This conclusion ignores the fact that God had also instructed the Jews (His covenant people) to leave some of their harvest for those who are poor and the foreigners to gather for sustenance. And most importantly, they miss the point of God’s command - He wanted to make sure the Jews hearts weren’t lead astray by the enticements of foreign gods. Also, if it were in fact true that God “hated/disliked” the foreigner, for Boaz to marry Ruth would have been grievous indeed. [Ruth’s even listed in Christ’s ancestry!] God’s love and concern for the outsider is evident in His provision for even the foreigner and foreshadows what is portrayed in the New Testament toward the Gentiles. WOW!