ADVENT AND THE BOOK OF RUTH
This Sunday, November 29, is the first day of Advent, which we begin with our special Hanging of the Green services. Advent is a season of preparation that helps us look forward to the celebration of Christmas, and beyond Christmas to the second coming of Jesus Christ. During this season we remember how our Savior humbled himself to be born as a baby and live among those He would save. We remember the perfect life he lived doing the will of His Father in the power of the Spirit, his sacrificial death on the cross for our sins, and how he was raised from the dead three days later, having paid the penalty in order to save all who would believe. Not only do we remember, we look forward to the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise to return again one day and restore everything fully, to inaugurate his kingdom. This is a season of expectation, hope, and grace.
To help us celebrate Advent, for the next few weeks on Sunday mornings we will be going through the book of Ruth. This account of a faithful woman who is brought into the people of God through the love of a redeemer who pays the price to guarantee her inheritance is a beautiful anticipation and promise of what Jesus does for us through his cross and resurrection. The book of Ruth helps us understand and experience God’s faithfulness and grace, because he is a God who keeps his promises to us, ultimately by giving us his Son.
As Ruth says to her mother-in-law Naomi, “Blessed is the LORD who has not left you without a redeemer today” (Ruth 4:14). This is God’s promise for all of us. I am praying for you during this Advent season, that God will help you see and remember what he is doing all around us in Jesus Christ, and that you would have the hope, faith, and peace he has purchased for you through him.
God bless,
