Ruth 1-4: Kinsman-Redeemer

“Don’t call me Naomi, ” she told them. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The LORD has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”
So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter–in–law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning. -Ruth 1:20-22 NIV

The story of Ruth is our story.  We wander off to foreign lands, looking for sustenance.  What looks like our provision, turns out to be our downfall.  We lose everything that we once had, all of our support, everything we trusted in.  We find ourselves in desperate straits, widowed and without any resources.  Our only hope is to throw ourselves at the feet of our kinsman-redeemer.  Just as with Ruth and Boaz, we will not be disappointed.  Christ, our redeemer, spreads his covering over us and pays the price, the ultimate price, to redeem us.  He gives us a future and a hope.  Although we were foreigners, we become part of the family.  We become his bride.