Right in My Own Eyes (6) – Ruth and Boaz Save Christmas

Welcome to CROLCC, we are so glad you are here worshiping with us. We are nearing the end of the year and Christmas is just around the corner. This time of the year people are busy sending Christmas cards, preparing for trips, or cooking up a great meal for a family and friends gathering. What do you usually do this time of the year? In the midst of your busyness, would you have sometime for yourself to reflect for the past year? I hope before your family arrives from out of town or before you take a long trip, would you write down a couple of things that you are thankful for what God has done in your life? And then maybe write down a couple of things you would like to accomplish for next year?

Today we are closing our series Right in My Own Eyes. The book of Judges records God’s chosen people doing what they want, when they want, with whom they want. But they were supposed to show the world who God was by being different than the nations around them. For three hundred years they lived in a cycle of disobedience, disaster, and deliverance. The entire time while Israel was ping-ponging back and forth from obedience to disobedience, doing what was right in his or her own eyes, God was up to something else—he was decorating for Christmas.

Moving Forward

It took God hundreds of years to prepare for the first Christmas. But a simple decision could make this your best Christmas. All you have to do is declare, “I no longer want to do what is right in my own eyes. I’m ready to do what is right in your eyes.” There is no better time to put your faith in Jesus as your savior and yield to him as your king.

Discussion Questions

1. What is one of your favorite family Christmas traditions? Why is it special to you?

2. Read Ruth 1:15–19. What reasons may God have had to include Ruth—a woman who wasn’t even from the nation of Israel—in his plans for the first Christmas?

3. Read Ruth 2:10–23. What characteristics do Boaz and Ruth have in common? In what ways do those characteristics reflect their willingness to yield to God’s will?

4. What is one area of your life about which you need to declare to God, “I no longer want to do what is right in my own eyes. I’m ready to do what is right in your eyes.” How can this group help you to follow through on that declaration?