Kinsman-Redeemer

 Sharecropper’s Inheritance

Leviticus 25:23

The Book of Ruth

Kinsman-Redeemer

In our devotions this morning, we came across a part of the Levitical Holiness Code.  It dawned upon me that all these years, I have never explained why my entries and writings have often been identified as Sharecropper’s Inheritance. Let me share my insight.

Leviticus 25:23 (HCSB): “The land is not to be permanently sold because it is Mine, and you are only foreigners and temporary residents on My land.

The story of Ruth, Boaz, and Naomi is a remarkable one.  It is truly about God’s hesed, or love, as illustrated by Boaz toward Ruth and Naomi. As I have grown in my faith, I have come to a growing awareness that there is nothing that I own.  It is all of God. I remember thinking of Ginny and Adam as my children, but they are not.  They are God’s children.  Early on in my career, I would slip into the thinking of looking at what I have achieved, only to realize that it was God who achieved it through me. Ruth and Naomi realized that the land that she wanted to glean on was not hers but someone else’s, who happened to be Boaz’s, and it happens that he is their kinsman-redeemer. 

So, here I am in God’s creation, not mine but His. He provides for me what I need to survive in His world, on His land.  I become, in my term, a Sharecropper and out of His blessed love (hesed), He allows me to harvest in His field. I have to work it, and that is also a gift.  But I also realize that from the story of Ruth and the Levitical Holiness Code, that even in His world, some would do me harm, so He protects and provides for me (Ruth 2:8-9).

And all these points to God.  He is my kinsman-reddemeer. He loves beyond any expectation and protects and provides for me as I glean in His field of harvest. God provides for me One who saves, in Jesus Christ, and as Boaz illustrates, brings me into His life.  In essence, he makes a covenant with me to not only be my kinsman-redeemer but one, by His choice and mine, to join in heart and soul, out of the love we have for one another. But I remember this: I (we) love because He first loved me (us) (cf.1 John 4:19). 

I’m not sure what Ruth said or sang to Boaz, but this hymn came into my mind:

All To Jesus I Surrender

1 All to Jesus I surrender,

All to Him I freely give;

I will ever love and trust Him,

In His presence daily live.

Refrain:

I surrender all, I surrender all;

All to Thee, my blessed Savior,

I surrender all.

2 All to Jesus I surrender,

Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;

Let me feel Thy Holy Spirit,

Truly know that Thou art mine. [Refrain]

3 All to Jesus I surrender,

Lord, I give myself to Thee;

Fill me with Thy love and power,

Let Thy blessing fall on me. [Refrain]

  

The story of Ruth, Boaz, and Naomi, and his love for her and her love for Him, and what that represented in His love and protection of her, has meant a great deal to me. She was a “sharecropper” as I am, and always have been in God’s Kingdom, in His creation. I am not entitled to it, I do not own it, nor do I deserve it But, He provided and protected me before I even knew Him. He provided for me a Savior…to save me from my sin and thus redeemed me and made a covenant with me and thus, me with Him. What cost? It cost Him His life, but because of his resurrection from death to life, I am allowed to serve Him, love Him now and forever, and I am eternally grateful. 

My DNA in God’s Kingdom is a Sharecropper.  I inherited that, and it is a monicker that gives me great joy.