Daily Devotionals

'Every Day Light' with Selwyn Hughes

Devotional: June 16th

For Reading and Meditation:
     Ruth 4:5-6

Boaz';s plans to redeem Ruth were temporarily thwarted when the nearest kinsman gave a definite "yes" to his proposal that he should buy the land. But now the love which burned in Boaz's heart gives energy to his thinking and he comes up with a powerful argument that wins the day. In the words of the Living Bible: "Then Boaz told him, 'Your purchase of the land from Naomi requires your marriage to Ruth so that she can have children to carry on her husband's name, and to inherit the land' " (v. 5). The kinsman's enthusiasm wanes. The thought of having a Moabitess in his family - one who was a despised alien - was not at all appealing, and so he says: "Then I can't do it – for her son would become an heir to my property too; you buy it" (v. 6). How similar is all this to the process through which our Lord went in order to redeem us. As Scripture puts it, we were "sold under sin" (Romans 7:14, KJV). That means we were slaves to the kingdom of Satan; we belonged by right to him. However, Christ put into effect the divine plan that enabled us to pass from the kingdom of Satan into the Kingdom of God. Satan thought he had us in his clutches for all time but he was outmaneuverd at the Cross. Just as Boaz turned the tables on the kinsman at Bethlehem, so our Lord turned the tables on Satan at Calvary. What the devil thought would be a great victory turned out to be his most ignominious defeat. Hallelujah!

O Father, when I reflect on with what deftness and skill You overturned the strategies of Satan, I just want to open up my heart to You in endless praise. Blessed be Your Name forever and ever. Amen.