Encouragement for Today

May 2, 2025 A Redeemer Is Born KATY MORGAN Lee en español

“Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. The women living there said, ‘Naomi has a son!’” Ruth 4:16-17a (NIV)

Do you ever find yourself wishing for a certain kind of friend?

Someone wise who can help you decide what to do. Someone affectionate who’ll care for you and put you first. Someone who’ll draw your attention to all the joyful things in the world. Someone who … Well, the list goes on.

Don’t be silly, you tell yourself. You’re looking for a best friend, pastor, sister, mother, father, husband and child all rolled into one! No one like this exists! Yet you still feel you’re lacking something.

In the book of Ruth, Naomi was a woman who lacked. She had lost her husband and her two sons and was uprooted twice from her home. In a culture where a woman needed a male relative to look after her in her old age, Naomi had none.

Then Naomi’s daughter-in-law, Ruth, met Boaz, setting events in motion that would lead up to Ruth 4:16-17, the crowning moment of Naomi’s story. She held Ruth’s son, Obed:

“Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. The women living there said, ‘Naomi has a son!’”

Wait, what? Little Obed wasn’t biologically related to Naomi at all! But Ruth 4:14-15 explains he was born as her “redeemer.” It’s an ancient term meaning that part of Obed’s role in life would be to guarantee Naomi’s safety and well-being.

In other words, Obed was born to fulfill Naomi’s lack. His very existence solved her greatest needs.

But here’s what sends tingles down my spine — and links Naomi’s story to yours and mine. The wording in Hebrew isn’t just “Naomi has a son!” (Ruth 4:17). We could also translate it, “To Naomi a son is born.”

Sound familiar? Isaiah 9:6 says something very close: “To us a child is born, to us a son is given …” (NIV). It’s talking about Jesus — and doing so in the same terms as Ruth 4:17.

When I first made this link between Obed’s birth and Jesus’, I wanted to tell everyone about it. Jesus is to me what Obed was to Naomi! The birth of Obed was the perfect solution to her specific woes. And in just the same way, Jesus my Redeemer was born for me.

Jesus is my wise Pastor, providing Shepherd, affectionate Husband, joyful Friend. He’s the child who brings me hope for my future. He’s the One who never betrays, never disappoints, and always puts my needs before His own in the most life-changing way imaginable.

Jesus is the person I’m longing for.

When I sometimes feel far from Him, I can think of tiny Obed, perhaps hours old, being tucked into Naomi’s embrace. I imagine the physicality of it, the piercing joy she must have felt at now having a hope and a future.

A son was born to Naomi! And a Redeemer has been born to me.

Lord, You provide for me in better ways than I could imagine for myself. Thank You for giving Your Son. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

OUR FAVORITE THINGS

Try Katy Morgan’s retelling of the story of Ruth and Naomi, The Outsider. It brings the story to life in a faithful and moving way and is written for everyone ages 8 and up!

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Check out Katy’s other Bible retellings, The Songs of a Warrior and The Promise and the Light. Each book includes a free discussion guide.

Enter to WIN your very own copy of The Outsider by Katy Morgan. To celebrate this book, Katy’s publisher will give away 5 copies! Enter to win by filling out the form here. {We’ll randomly select 5 winners and notify them via email by Monday, May 5, 2025.}

FOR DEEPER STUDY

Ruth 4:14-15, “The women said to Naomi: ‘Praise be to the LORD, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth’” (NIV).

Isaiah 9:6, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (NIV).

What needs or lacks do you have that Jesus came to meet? Share with us in the comments!

© 2025 by Katy Morgan. All rights reserved.

Proverbs 31 Ministries thanks The Good Book Company for their sponsorship of today’s devotion.

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