Home for ChristmasSample

Monday (Day 2)

VERSES: Ruth 1:1-5; 4:11, John 6:35

What if there was no money in the bank, no food in the silo, and no children in the nursery? Well, if those things happened, you would have situations of intense difficulty, but also you would have an amazing start to a top 10 country and western song!

In the book of Ruth, we see another verse to our country tune … there was no bread in the house of bread (“Bethlehem” in Hebrew means “house of bread.”) Since there was no bread in the house of bread, a man named Elimelech and his wife Naomi headed over the hills into Moab (modern day Jordan) to find something to eat. Not only did they find food, they also found wives for their sons! One of their sons married a woman named Ruth. Some time after their marriage, though, the men in Elimelech’s family died, leaving Elimelech’s wife Naomi and his daughter-in-law Ruth widows.

In due time, the famine was over in Bethlehem, so Naomi and Ruth head back to the “house of bread.” In that culture, a kinsman could “redeem” a widow by marrying her and providing offspring to honor the legacy of the man who had died. Elimelech’s kin, Boaz, meets Ruth and “redeems her,” marrying her and giving her children. All these events happen in the little town of Bethlehem.

How fitting that Jesus Christ would be born in this town. One of Jesus’ nicknames He gave Himself in John’s Gospel is “bread of life.” Jesus came to provide for our deepest spiritual needs. He came to sustain and fill our souls. He redeems us from a barrenness of spirit and provides for us an abundance of life.

Is there a famine in your land, spiritually speaking? Are you living in the shame of your sin, feeling distant from God, or hungering for more in life? Do not simply sing the blues. Instead, turn to Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life, who can provide for you no matter the circumstances.