Speaker 1: 0:00

Well, all right, all right. We're going to continue our summer Bible study in the book of Ruth today, and I'm so excited for it. We got a weird one today. It's going to be a good topic, but this summer Bible study has been so interesting because we've been able to tackle married life through the context, the content of this series. We've been able to talk about singlehood, dating life, and even today, we have some of our youth in here today, because our youth are away today at summer camp.

Speaker 1: 0:35

And I just got to say something real fast. Can we give a big shout out to all the adults who sponsored our nine youth who are at camp right now. Come on, that is just so incredible, because you are putting your money where your mouth is, so to say, to invest it into the next generation, and I've heard back from the team camp is going awesome, okay, but all that to say is we have a diverse group in here today, and so this topic, this text, is going to help us continue to address different seasons of life that people are going through. We got, like I said, we got people in here who are dating, we got married people, we got singles and my hope, though, my hope through this Bible study is that you will become more like Jesus, that you will see Jesus in it and through it. That's my hope as everyday people who are learning how to become everyday Jesus followers. So we're going to be in chapter three today and, like I said, it gets weird. It gets a little weird today. You think you can handle some weird? All right, here you go. Okay, let's look back and review.

Speaker 1: 1:40

Just in case you're new with us today, I'll catch you up on the book of Ruth. If you remember, ruth is a poor widow who just so happens according by the providence of God. And you may be saying well, what's the providence of God? What does that mean? The providence of God? The providence of God is when God uses our natural everyday circumstances but does something supernatural through them. He takes our everydays, our comings and goings, and works His miraculous work through it. So she just so happens to be working in a field belonging to a godly landowner, a guy named Boaz, which is a good name, a man of standing, who asks her on a date. And when we look at the text, the first date goes good, it's a good first date. You know they really connected. They talked for a little bit longer than they thought. He gave her a little bit more than what she needed.

Speaker 1: 2:33

The conversation looked good. If we put a modern twist to it, I would say the sparks were flying. Sparks were flying. He made her laugh. She made him feel special. There was no awkward silence. They started to finish each other's sandwiches I mean sentences and they both had butterflies. Everything went good. Then, after the first date, after this great first date, boaz did to Ruth what the young people would say Boaz ghosted her. Dang Boaz. There was no call, no courtesy text message. She's confused. She's like I thought we were connecting. I thought we had a spark. I thought things were good.

Speaker 1: 3:20

Seven weeks of harvest goes by and the harvest is almost over and Ruth is scratching her head, thinking man, I must have read into something that wasn't there. Like that must not be what I thought it was. And so Ruth's mother-in-law, naomi, stepped into the conversation and said Ruth, it's time for you to DTR. And Ruth's like what does DTR mean? Define the relationship. It's time for you to define the relationship, ruth. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, this is the dreaded official talk where a couple determines the level of commitment their relationship has. So this is where you say are we just friends? Are we more than friends? Are we kind of casually dating but keeping our options open? Are we dating exclusively? This is the prime time to friend zone somebody. Hey, you're just such a good buddy, you know, if you ever get hit with that. You know, okay, you know. And so every relationship hits this point, the decision point, and this is how the story goes. Okay, check this out.

Speaker 1: 4:28

One day, ruth's mother-in-law, naomi, said to her my daughter, I must find a home for you where you will be well provided for. In the Hebrew, that means we need to get you a man. That's what that means. Now, boaz is a relative of ours. Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. Now you may be wondering what the heck does it mean to be winnowing barley on the threshing floor? I actually have a picture of a harvest field behind me and this would be a place that, after the harvest, you would go and you would take the harvest. You would take it all to the platform in the field and then you would take everything. This is how they would do it you would take everything and you would throw it in the air and the west wind in this case, would separate the wheat from the chaff and this would basically determine how good of a stuff that you had, what you can eat, what you can sell. Essentially, this would be the time that you would determine the profit. You would determine the profit of your harvest season. So what are they going to do? So it's at the end of the harvest. Boaz got his, he's on the threshing floor. He's going to gather his workers. What are they going to do? They're going to have a payday party. They're about to throw their wheat. They're about to say dang, we did good this year, we did great, okay. So Naomi is scheming, naomi is scheming. Naomi is thinking, okay, they're going to have a party tonight. So she starts to strategize. She says she's thinking okay, ruth Boaz is going to be there. He's going to be in a good mood because he made a lot of money this season. He's going to be in a good mood. So here's what you're going to do.

Speaker 1: 6:01

Verse three, and this is kind of funny. Verse three she says first thing. She says to Ruth. She says wash, that's a good step. If you're trying to meet someone, take a bath. That's a good one. You know, you don't want to be on. Hey, if you're married, take a bath. Okay, you know, get clean. Good wisdom right there. Okay, it continues. She says put on perfume and get dressed in your best clothes. I don't want you to forget this point. That's an extremely important part to our Bible study today. Okay, when Naomi tells you to put on perfume and get dressed in your best clothes I'm going to hit on that a little bit later in the message. Okay, there you go.

Speaker 1: 6:38

Then she says then go down to the threshing floor and don't let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. Naomi, she's saying let him finish his chicken wings first, because you know men are happier after they eat. Then you can kind of see the strategy. She said I want you to get all dressed up. I want you to wait till you had a few drinks in them. Then and then and then here's the warning, it's when things get weird. Then Naomi says to do this. She says then, when he lies down, note the place where he's staying and he's going to be laying next to the wheat, because that's what they did. They want to make sure no one steal it.

Speaker 1: 7:18

Then Naomi says to Ruth then go, uncover his and lie down. That's weird. It's a little weird. Okay, he will tell you what to do. I will do whatever you say. Ruth answered.

Speaker 1: 7:38

So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law told her to do. Now I just got to be honest. I have a daughter. You know, I have a daughter and I can't picture Aaron and I one day giving Kingsley this advice hey, kingsley, I got a great way for you to snag a man. This is what I want you to do. I want you to let him get a few drinks in him, let him get a little buzz, make sure he has some food and then, when he goes to lay down, go play with his toes. You know, I just don't think that's what I would say to my daughter. I don't think that's the advice I would give her to get a husband. So what in the world is Naomi doing? What is she advising? Sneak up by the bed, uncover his feet, wait for him. So here you go.

Speaker 1: 8:26

There is actually, believe it or not, some real spiritual meaning to what Naomi is telling Ruth to do. But what I found, before we get into that, what I found. There are a bunch of different opinions about this and I'll give you a few of the theories. Okay, this is what makes Bible study so fun. Okay, one theory is, when she said to uncover his feet, that was a saying, that was a phrase to uncover more about him, find out a little bit more about him. That's the theory. I don't believe that was it, because there's better ways to do that than messing with people's toes. Okay, another theory suggests that Naomi is actually telling Ruth to be aggressive, to be a little bit more aggressive, to be a little bit more aggressive, to do whatever it takes to get his attention. There's some validity in this one. Okay, there's something that makes sense in this one. It's just a theory, no one knows, but there's some. That one's a little bit more valid.

Speaker 1: 9:18

Other people would say that Naomi was saying hey, just trust God's sovereignty. Trust God's sovereignty and trust Boaz's integrity. He knows he's a. We know he's a man of God. We know he's a man of standing, we know that he loves God. Just kind of, put yourself in the right place at the right time, at the right at the right place, right time and the right God will give you the right man. Well, maybe, maybe.

Speaker 1: 9:40

Okay, these are theories that we're working with, okay. So what do we know? What do we know? What we know is that Naomi is suggesting Ruth to be a little bit forward. But why? Why is it? Why is this? Because Boaz is Ruth's potential guardian, redeemer, his kinsman, redeemer. This is potentially the man that can help provide for her and protect her and be a spiritual covering, is potentially the man that can help provide for her and protect her and be a spiritual covering.

Speaker 1: 10:10

So her mother-in-law is saying, hey, you might want to. You know, just give him a little push, give him a little push. And I'll go ahead and say this for the benefit of the ladies in the house Some men need a little encouragement. Some men need a lot of encouragement, and the reason is I'll let you in on a little secret, okay, the secret is that most men are very insecure and the ladies are like that. Ain't no secret. No, but for real, I'm going to be honest. You know, sometimes guys need a little bit more help.

Speaker 1: 10:47

You know other people for me. I tell my story Other people and I left my name tag on. Okay, Other people can encourage me, right, and it's awesome. I love encouragement. I love when people encourage me. I never met anyone that just loves to be discouraged. Oh, I love when you discourage me. I never met anyone that just loves to be discouraged. Oh, I love when you discourage me. I never met that person. If that's you, I'll pray for you at the end of the service. Okay, but people love encouragement. I love encouragement. But you want to know the best encouragement. The best encouragement comes from my wife, erin. When she encourages me, man, I feel a little bit better.

Speaker 1: 11:18

For example, I've been on this journey, y'all. I've been on this journey since I was 19 years old, and it's the journey I have called hashtag HSB, which stands for hot summer body. Haven't got it yet. It's not there yet, but this year, you know, probably been my closest, and the reason why is because I finally got my diet under control. Go figure, you can't eat chicken, wings and beer all the time and have the body you want.

Speaker 1: 11:50

So, anyways, I've been eating a lot better, I've been doing a lot good and not that long ago, I was getting ready for the day, and I was getting ready for the day. I was putting my shirt on and Erin walked up behind me. She rubbed my back and said you look good and I was like me. Thanks, I've been trying, but it made me feel good, man, it made me feel good. Oh, thank you, thank you and so, but like for real, I've been trying and all that to say, ladies, sometimes he needs a little bit of encouragement.

Speaker 1: 12:21

So Ruth goes down, lays at his feet and she's waiting by his bed, and I want to be very clear, though. I want to be very clear this is descriptive, not prescriptive. This is descriptive, not prescriptive. What do I mean by that? In other words, this is what happened in the Bible. This is not what the Bible is telling you to do. Bible is telling you to do. Now, in my pastoral opinion, this is not the best plan to get a spouse okay, but I actually like and I gotta kind of get off track a little bit because I actually like that.

Speaker 1: 12:55

This part is in the Bible, though, because one of the reasons why we can have a biblical worldview in our lives, the reason why we can trust the Bible and live by the values and standards of the Bible, is because it leaves the weird stuff in it. It leaves things in it that, if someone was writing this to manipulate this, you would take that part out. You wouldn't want people to know that part. But the Bible is trustworthy because it leaves in the stories where people get it wrong. It leaves in the stories where people made the wrong decision, when people didn't follow up, when people were angry at God, when people were confused what God was doing. It leaves it all in there, even, for example, the gospel writers. They write themselves into the narrative as someone who didn't believe in what Jesus was going to do. Yet they see the power of his resurrection. See, it's trustworthy. And so the Bible puts this stuff in here because it's very relatable to us. We do dumb things, we make bad choices, and God can still work it for good. Here you go, let's continue. It gets a little bit weirder, all right.

Speaker 1: 14:21

Ruth 3,. Starting in good spirits, he went over to lie down at the far end of the grain pile. Ruth approached quietly, uncovered his feet and lied down In the middle of the night. Something startled the man, of course. He turned and there was a woman lying at his feet. Who are you, boaz asked. I am your servant, ruth, she said. Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a guardian redeemer of my family. What the heck does that mean? Like what is going on.

Speaker 1: 14:52

This is really weird, let's be honest, you know. So what is the guardian redeemer? What is the kinsman redeemer? It is a relative who had the responsibility and privilege to provide for a family member in a time of need. So what would happen? So what would happen if a woman turned into a widow, lost her husband, if her husband died? What typically would happen would be a brother would be a brother from his family, a brother would have the spiritual responsibility to provide for and protect that widow, and that would be considered the guardian kinsman redeemer. Who is Boaz? Well, boaz is a potential guardian redeemer, but this is very important he is a distant. He is a distant guardian redeemer. He is not anywhere near the closest one and did not have the legal right or obligation to provide for her.

Speaker 1: 15:46

So what is she saying? Many scholars would say she is saying would you be my spiritual covering? Would you be my redeemer? So let's address the elephant in the room though, okay, because this is a really weird text. Did they have sex that night outside of marriage? Because that's what it's alluding to, that's what it seems, because all of a sudden, this story is taking a different direction than last week, last week they're at their date and it's very wholesome. They're talking, they're seeking character, they're connecting, they're sharing consideration, they're receiving confirmation from loved ones Very wholesome. And this week they're in bed together and she's messing with his feet. She took my advice that I talked about last week about the foot rub rule too literally. What's the foot rub rule? Just in case you weren't here with us, that's when you rub your wife's feet if you want to do something for your wife that you don't necessarily like in return, but you're doing it because you're a husband and that's a good thing to do, okay, so she took it too literal. So what happened? What is happening? Because culture, because culture.

Speaker 1: 16:51

I'm going to be honest, though. Culture and many Christian circles will say sex outside of marriage is not a big deal. It's not a big deal, but I'm going to say something to this, though. I want to say something to this Because you want to know what isn't a good idea either. It isn't a good idea to rush to get married, to have holy sex, because if you rush into marriage just for sex, you're going to figure out that there's more to marriage than sex, and then that's going to leave you with a lot of different issues, a lot of different problems. So this is a complex situation. It's a complex topic, so is Ruth, but here's the thing that I'm mainly concerned about. Is Naomi telling Ruth to use sex as a means to make connection in order to make this relationship official, because that is not healthy? And the answer is no, no, she did not. No, they did not. No, they did not.

Speaker 1: 17:48

Boaz treats Ruth honorably. He respects her purity, and I'll show you why. In verse 11. It says this he says now, my daughter, don't be afraid, I will do for you. All you ask, which is to be her guardian redeemer? All the people of my town know that you are a woman of noble character. Now, and then he said he said I'm not going to let them know. You know, I'm going to let them know that you're an honorable person.

Speaker 1: 18:14

And so Ruth has hinted, she's available and declares her love for Boaz, and Boaz is all in, he's ready to go. So now what? So now there's this awkward thing that's happening, but they're able to communicate hey, I'm ready to be with you. And Boaz is ready to say, yeah, I want to be with you too. So are they ready to get married? Is this? What are they going to have their happily ever after? Well, there's a problem. Check it out. Although it is true that I am a guardian redeemer of our family, there is another, uh-oh, there is another who is more closely related than I. Stay here for the night and in the morning. If he wants to do his duty as your guardian redeemer, good, let him redeem you, but if he is not willing, as surely as the Lord lives, I will do it.

Speaker 1: 19:01

Man, this thing has got complicated. This guy came there, so what do we see? We have an obstacle, there's an obstacle in the way. There's another relative who has the legal right to be her guardian redeemer. And now we're going to hit on that a little bit more next week. And next week, man, we got a treat for you, because Brandy Freeman is preaching in the house next week. It's going to be awesome, you don't want to miss that. And she's going to hit on this.

Speaker 1: 19:24

But let's summarize for today. Okay, let's summarize today what we've seen in this kind of odd Bible study. This kind of odd Bible study. Let's bring our big thoughts into a manageable summary points. Okay, I got five big lessons we're learning this week and I'm going to word them in a way that kind of can hit the two groups of people that we have in here today. We got the single people. This is what you can do Be looking for and, to the married people, ask yourself are you doing these things and, if not, how can you start?

Speaker 1: 19:53

How can you start? Okay, the first one is this it is often wise to put yourself in the right place to increase the odds of finding what you really want. It's wise to increase the odds of finding what you really want. It's wise, it's wisdom, to put yourself in the right spot. In other words, if you are a follower of Jesus and you want to meet someone who's a follower of Jesus, it's probably better to meet that person at church.

Speaker 1: 20:16

But my single people are going to say, pastor Jacob, where are the single people at LVC? I hear you, okay, I hear you. And now I got a couple things I'm going to say to that. First one is this that's why we need to get good at inviting people to church. We need to get good at inviting people to church. And then, second, if you are a single person, I'm going to give you an encouragement. I'm going to give you just an encouragement. You can take it as a challenge, whatever. Maybe it's time for you to start a single people small group. Maybe it's time and maybe you gather some single people you know they don't have to be coming to our church, the people that you know, the other people know people and you gather them, they hang out, you know, play games, whatever. Do a small group and maybe that's the opportunity to start meeting. And what is it doing? It's helping you meet people, other godly people who have the same values as you have and wanting to help you get into that, get into that spot, you know. But then I also got to say there's some benefits of church growth. There's some benefits because one of the benefits of church growth is that one day we can move out of this facility and get our own right. Another benefit of church growth is that it means more everyday people are learning how to become Jesus followers. And the third benefit of church growth is that the church can become like the love boat for some of our single people. They can meet some good people. All right, that's why we got invited.

Speaker 1: 21:44

And to marry people. To marry people, I'm going to say this Wisdom is to put yourself in the right place to serve and love your spouse. If you want joy in your marriage, lead the example and do things in your house that bring joy. If you want peace, be a peacemaker. If you want fun and romance, then set it up.

Speaker 1: 22:01

And I want to speak, though. I want to speak to the spouses in here who you want those things, but your spouse, man, their heart is hard. I mean, they're not receiving it, they're not making that connection, and I want to say something, and I want to be very delicate what I'm about to say here, because I know that's a tough situation. I want to be delicate, though. My encouragement to you is to do the things that you want to see happen and, even if your spouse doesn't respond the way you hope, say holy spirit, teach me what you're doing in my heart through this. Teach me, show me, and god is faithful to teach you something, even in that pain. Can I be honest today? Just just do it, just do it, just do it. Yeah, not everything's gonna change. Not everything may be perfect, but God is doing something in you, and I gotta say something. God is concerned about the condition of your heart. He wants you to know that he's with you, even in that hard time. Even in that difficult relationship, even in that marriage that's struggling. He's with you, okay.

Speaker 1: 23:05

Second thing is this. Second thing is this Don't overlook those who are right in front of you. Don't overlook those who are right in front of you. This is kind of how things worked out for Aaron and I. To be honest, we knew each other for years before we started dating and it kind of just happened. There was a couple of interactions we had over one summer that she was in town from school, that kind of like set into motion. You know the romance you can say and that's kind of like set into motion. You know the romance you can say and that's kind of how it happened. You know oftentimes there's someone right in front of you that God may do something special if you open your eyes and see them. This is what happened with Ruth and Boaz.

Speaker 1: 23:32

For single people, someone could be right in front of you and that could be a person for you. For married people, your spouse is right in front of you. Date night is not just watching Netflix on the couch, but to start talking, to get a hobby together. There's this older couple in our neighborhood who are like the most adorable couple ever. They bike ride together and then oftentimes they take a walk. And guess what? When they take a walk, they hold hands. It's so awesome. They're probably like in their late 70s and Aaron and I, we see them like man. That's what we want. That's what we want one day to always do that kind of thing.

Speaker 1: 24:11

Okay, here's another principle Sometimes you have to go after what you want. And for single people, don't be a stalker, though this is not well. Pastor Jacob told me to go after what I want. No, no, no. Don't be a stalker. If someone's not into it, let it go. Be like Elsa, let it go. You know, just that's it, you know. But but if there is a connection, first of all, pray, pray, give it to the Lord of all. Pray, pray, give it to the Lord.

Speaker 1: 24:47

Seek counsel from healthy friends and family and notice, I emphasize healthy, because you don't need to seek counsel from your friend who got more busted relationships than you have. Okay, seek counsel from healthy friends and family and then pursue it. And for married people, go after your spouse, date them again. If things are in a rough spot, get the help. If things are in a good spot, keep going after it.

Speaker 1: 25:10

Next thing, even if you don't get it right, god can still make it right. And for some of you, that's a word for you today. That's a word for some of you today. In dating relationships, you made some mistakes, but God can redeem it. He is a redemptive God. Even in your marriage there are some things that are not where they should be, and maybe you built it on a foundation that wasn't strong like it should have been. And even if you didn't get it all right, god is a redemptive God. He is a forgiving God. He is the God that takes all things and works them together for our good, for those who are called according to his purpose. And I got to let some people know today that your mistakes aren't bigger than God's grace and that God's grace can take a multitude of mistakes and cover it and cleanse us and heal it and use those mistakes as our stepping stones to become the person God has called you to be. That's how good His grace is. And lastly, if you want a marriage that honors God in the future, live a life that honors God today. Don't wait until later. Yeah, one day, when we're married, we have kids, we're going to serve Jesus. No, be faithful to him today.

Speaker 1: 26:23

Spiritually, we see, boaz wants to be her guardian redeemer, her kinsman redeemer. But he was not obligated to care for Ruth in that fashion Because he wasn't a brother to her husband and she was a Moabite, not even from Bethlehem, but because he loved her. What did he do? He chose to make a sacrifice for her. And here's what's incredibly powerful and I want you guys to get this part, because this is an odd mission that Naomi sends Ruth on, like go lay down next to him, I'll cover his toes and like what's happening. This is an odd mission and the NIV doesn't do justice to this verse like the ESV does. Okay, I want you to. I want to read this verse again. In the ESV it says this wash. This is what Naomi tells Ruth. Wash, therefore, and anoint yourself and put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor. So was Naomi trying to manipulate Ruth or was she trying to get Ruth to trick or manipulate Boaz? To best understand this, we're going to dive in a little Bible study. Okay, I know it's towards the end of the message, but lean in, listen to this, because this is so important for this story. Okay, let's dive in real fast.

Speaker 1: 27:33

In Ruth 3, we find a profound meaning revealed. This verse is a literary hyperlink to one of the worst moments in the life of one of Israel's greatest heroes, king David. You probably know the story of David and Bathsheba. King David, alone, bored while his troops are at battle, notices a beautiful woman bathing from the palace balcony. He uses his kingly power to summon her, leveraging his authority to get her to sleep with him. When she becomes pregnant, david tries to cover it up by manipulating her husband into returning from the battlefield. When that fails, he has her husband killed so he can take her as his wife. For a while, it seems, as David's misconduct is hidden, but then the prophet Nathan confronts him. David repents. They lose the baby.

Speaker 1: 28:25

David falls into deep grief a dawning sock, cloth and ashes, refusing to eat, weeping and lying on the ground in depression. Check this out. In 2 Samuel 12 too, we read this. Then David arose from the earth. Here you go, washed and anointed himself. Okay, this is important. He washed. He's in a deep depression based on his own mistakes, based on his shortcomings, based on the decisions he made. But and he has this moment where he gets up, he washes and he anoints himself and check this out and he changes his clothes. He went into the house of the Lord in worship, washing, anointing and changing clothes.

Speaker 1: 29:11

Mark Davis transitioned from grief to trust in God again. Similarly, naomi tells Ruth to wash, anoint herself and change her clothes because, after grieving the loss of her husband, here you go. In the ancient world, a widow would wear mourning garments as a visible sign of her grief and unavailability. And Naomi encourages Ruth to come out of her period of grief and make herself available again. This is not a manipulative act. Rather, it is a compassionate mother-in-law encouraging Ruth to trust that her story is not over yet and that God remembers the grieving widow.

Speaker 1: 29:56

And I got to say this because Ruth's one decision to leave Moab and return to Bethlehem, because her decision to go to Boaz and Boaz's one decision to commit, to pursue and to provide for her, to protect her as her guardian redeemer. Because of her one decision and because of his one decision, they led to a covenant of marriage that resulted in a son named Obed. And from the lineage of Obed came our guardian redeemer, jesus, the son of God, who is our savior and is our king and our Lord. And in the same way, jesus wasn't obligated to give his life for you. But because of his love for you, he went to a cross that he did not deserve and he hung there for you and for me. But he didn't stay on that cross and he didn't stay in that tomb. Three days later he rose again so that you and I could get back up again.

Speaker 1: 30:58

And so Naomi says to her you're grieving, god's not done with you. Trust in him. Trust in him because he hears you, he listens to you and you can trust him in that. And my fear and my fear and this is the best way I can put it, my fear for us is that there is a relationship that we haven't defined, and that relationship isn't our relationship with our spouse, it's not our relationship with the person we're interested in. It's our relationship with God. Who is God to you? Who is Jesus to you? Who is he? Because all other relationships will fail if that relationship between you and Jesus isn't right.

Speaker 1: 31:43

And the problem is there's an 18-inch gap between us and God. And what do I mean by that? We know God, we know Him, but we don't know Him in our hearts and know about Him. Man, but do I know Him? And friends, if I can be vulnerable with you for a second man. But do I know him? And, friends, if I can be vulnerable with you for a second man, I live the portion of my Christian life knowing God, but not knowing God. I live the portion of my Christian life saying look how great I can build something, look how good I can be, look at me, someone look at me. And so God arrested my heart and he said, jacob, it's not about what you do, it's about who you are, and you are a child of the most high God. And so, friends, I want to say to you today who is Jesus to you? Who is Jesus to you?

Speaker 1: 32:35

And our heart here at LVC is to help everyday people learn how to become Jesus followers. Not just learn how to be a part of a church, but learn how to become Jesus followers. Not just learn how to be a part of a church, but learn how to be with Jesus, to become like Jesus and do the stuff that Jesus did. So who is Jesus to you, who is he to you? And maybe the time for you today is to say it's time for me to wash. I can't live in the past mistakes. I can't live in the.

Speaker 1: 33:12

I got to wash, I got to put on the new perfume and I got to remove my garments of depression and put on a garment saying God, I'm available, I'm here and I'm ready for you, because when we do, when we do, he receives us, he loves us, and then you will begin to see that he provides for you, and then you will begin to see that he provides for you, that he's with you, that he's for you and you're not in this thing all by yourself, and that is a relationship that is worth taking some time to define. So, god, jesus, holy Spirit, we thank you for your love, we thank you for your goodness, we thank you for your favor, lord, and we say we want more of you. We want more of you, lord, god, we just don't want to know you in our heads, but we want to know you in our hearts, through and through, lord. And I just feel like the words of Naomi, prophetically speaking to us wash, it's time to wash. It's time to wash.

Speaker 1: 34:45

Boaz didn't approach Ruth because her clothes signified that she was unavailable. I feel like the Lord is saying man, put on new clothes. You're a new creation. The old is gone, the new is here. You don't have to live in that thing and you know your thing. You don't have to live in that thing anymore, for you, with you. And so, jesus, here we are, we wash in the beautiful thing, we are washed in your blood, jesus on that cross. And you rose from that grave and you make us as white as snow, pure, spotless. How great is this love. So, jesus, we thank you, we love you and we need you. In Jesus' name, amen, amen, amen. Let's give God some praise in here today.