The Ultimate Redeemer ~ Part II

​Redeemed.  Loved beyond measure.  Called by name.  Children of God.  Co-heirs with Christ.  This is our new position, new identity, and new place.  We are no longer strangers and enemies of God, but part of His family.  And while God brought this reconciliation through Christ, we also have a responsibility in this work, not to facilitate our salvation—Jesus did that—but to accept it.

Just as Ruth was unable to bring about her own redemption—it was completely in Boaz’s hands—she did have to accept and seek redemption.  Likewise, though we can do nothing to save ourselves, we still need to embrace and accept the need for a Savior.
 
We must claim Jesus as our Redeemer, Lord, and King, humbling ourselves and acknowledging our sinfulness.  This is our responsibility.  The work has already been done, the ransom paid, but unless we’re willing and ready to acknowledge our need for redemption and seek out the Redeemer the blood of Christ was shed in vain. 
 
So have you done this?  Have you lay prostrate at the feet of your Redeemer to seek refuge, protection, and redemption?  Have you accepted the free gift of salvation that God is extending towards you?
 
Ruth was willing to leave the country of her birth and journey to a foreign land, a land and people completely unknown to her.  She left Moab, completely walking away from the gods of her people and the family who raised her, to embrace and adopt the God of Israel and the people of God.  And because of her decision, she was richly blessed by the Lord.
 
Are we willing to do the same?  Are we willing to surrender the gods of our hearts and background in order to embrace the everlasting God?  Would we be willing to leave our earthly families to follow God and His ways should the need arise?  How far are we willing to go in obedience to God?
 
For Ruth, the answer to the last question was over 50 miles to a new place, a new people, and a new culture where she faithfully lived her life in such a way that she become known as a worthy, virtuous, righteous woman.
 
God has blessed us with so much—salvation, redemption, reconciliation, a new name—but often we take all this for granted and neglect our responsibility in the equation.  God didn’t do all this just to make us happy or help us avert eternal death, but He poured out so much love so that we could have a personal and intimate relationship with Him.  That is His goal, His heart, and His greatest desire, and God has done all He can to facilitate that relationship.  The rest is up to us.  Up to you, up to me.
 
So finally, will you embrace the ultimate Redeemer who gave His life for you?  Will you forsake the gods and ways of your past to seek the true and living God?  And will you recognize God’s free gift of salvation for what it really is—an open invitation to a personal relationship with the Maker of the universe?
 
I hope you have, because God is patiently waiting with open, loving arms.

“I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist;
return to me, for I have redeemed you.”
~Isaiah 44:22