Last night Sam Tyson spoke about the engagement season of a relationship and how we can prepare ourselves for a God-honoring marriage.
Engagement is a time to prepare for marriage; but how do you do that in a godly manner? Sam shared that man is bent towards selfishness. We all want to be happy, but sometimes we all loose sight of making our significant other happy...or worse, loose sight of making God happy.
As we look at Ruth 3, Ruth became vulnerable due to her given situation. To remind you of what that situation is: Her husband was dead and Naomi, her mother-in-law, was all that she had left. Instead of fleeing back to comfort and returning to her family, she made the decision to honor God and honor Naomi by accompanying Naomi back to her hometown. There, in the land of the Jews, in which Ruth was not, Ruth worked hard in order to provide for Naomi. Boaz, the owner of the land, was very partial to Ruth and recognized her selfless decisions. In turn, Boaz began to pursue and serve Ruth selflessly; he too was honoring God and honoring Ruth.
Sam revealed that as Ruth became vulnerable she started seeing Boaz as the one who could “save” her. Boaz didn’t abuse the situation, exploit her or make her feel embarrassed; instead, he continued to honor her and her integrity, just as he had all along. Boaz never thought about what he wanted, he thought about what Ruth wanted and lifted her up.
So, how do you prepare for a God-honoring marriage? As we can see in these verses, we need to lift each other up.
However, that is not all. We need to remove all distractions. In verse 12, Boaz mentions that there is another man who has first priority with Ruth. Boaz has to “remove” this possibility and explains to Ruth: “Although it is true that I am a guardian-redeemer of our family, 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. Lie here until morning” (Ruth 3:12-13).
In today’s world, these distractions could be anything from porn to merely confiding in someone else. These distractions take away from the intimacy and trust that a godly relationship is meant to have.
The most important thing to take away from Ruth & Boaz is that Boaz is not only representing a godly boyfriend or spouse, he is representing Christ and Ruth is representing us. This “redeemer” is pointing to the ultimate Redeemer - Jesus Christ. Jesus removed the obstacle that separated us from Him; He removed all distractions. From dying on the cross, He rid us of all sin and opened the bridge for us to have a relationship with Him and to one day live with Him. He lifted us up because how much he loves an honors us.
We cannot enter a godly marriage until we enter the ultimate relationship with Christ. Furthermore, we will not be prepared for a God-honoring marriage until we:
1) Lift each other up.
2) Remove all distractions.
Share with us your preparations for a godly marriage!
Forever in Him,
Kendall Johnson
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