“Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court.” Psalm 127:3-5 (NIV)

When my daughter Molly was born, my wife and I instantly thought of this verse. I always loved the picture of children being like arrows in the hands of a mighty warrior. This is an amazing reminder of the value that they bring, of the impact that they can have, and the true blessing that they are. So, we had the idea that we would go get a tattoo of an arrow, my first ever tattoo, to honor Molly. We drew up designs of an arrow along with her birthday and got the tattoo done. Our thought was for each kid we could add an arrow. It turns out that having kids is expensive, and extra tattoo money is not always easy to come by. At the time of writing this, we have yet to get our second arrow tattoo for our son who currently is four. I mean, in theory, it was a great idea, and I am still hopeful at some point we will get our second arrow tattoo for him.

1. What is a funny story of a time you failed to follow through with a family plan?

2. What do you think the Bible means when it says, “offspring a reward from him”?

3. Do you view family as a reward?

We have been studying the book of Ruth and we have seen how the story of Ruth and Naomi gives us so many incredible insights into how meaningful the family really is. The historical account of Ruth seemingly goes through more ups and downs than a Hallmark movie. Every time you think there is finally going to be that happy ending, more disaster hits. However, finally, in Ruth chapter 4, we get to see the happy ending and the reward that both Ruth and Naomi receive from the Lord.

Ruth 4:13-17 records, “So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. Then the women said to Naomi, ‘Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.’ Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, ‘A son has been born to Naomi.’ They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.”

Boaz finally takes Ruth as his wife and they have a child named Obed. Naomi and Ruth stayed faithful to the Lord throughout all of their struggles and setbacks, and now the reward of Obed is finally here. In regular rom-com standards, halfway through verse 17, “they named him Obed” would be a great place to wrap the story. We have Ruth happily married with a child, Boaz as a faithful husband and now father, Naomi as a happy grandma, and all is right in the world. However, there is something of much more eternal significance happening here. We read, “He [Obed] was the father of Jesse, the father of David” and Christians know that the line of David eventually extends all the way to Jesus Christ. After everything was said and done, Naomi and Ruth trusted the Lord through the circumstances and the reward was a child from whom one day would come. He is the Son of God.

4. How does knowing Obed’s lineage change your perspective of the story of Ruth?

Family can be such a sensitive topic. So many of us come from broken families where it is difficult to even envision the idea of family being a reward. We can often think of our family as a burden instead of a blessing. It is easy to fall into this sinful attitude. It would have been easy for Naomi to fall into this attitude as well. We should look back to chapter one of the book of Ruth.

Ruth 1:3-5 says, “But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.”

5. How would you have reacted in this situation if you were Naomi? How do you tend to react when things get hard?

Naomi goes to a strange land, her husband dies, her sons marry foreign women, and then both of her sons die. Eventually, the one daughter-in-law returns to her land but Ruth stays with Naomi. Naomi could have looked at Ruth and seen her as a burden, but instead, think of the blessing that Naomi received from having Ruth now a part of her family. We already know how eventually Ruth gives birth to Obed as the greatest blessing of them all, but I can even imagine Naomi just being thankful to have someone to share her life with when it was just the two of them. Despite the tragic circumstances that brought them together, Ruth was a blessing to Naomi. We need to love our family and celebrate our family like the reward that they truly are. No matter what your family looks like, God has blessed you with them, and not only should we thank God for them, we need to let them know that they are valuable to us. A reward is something of great value. It should be treated as such. I truly believe our home lives can change dramatically if we treat the members of our family as the reward that they are.

6. Do you celebrate your family?

7. Do you struggle with viewing your family as a burden?

The word reward means “a thing given in recognition of one’s service, effort, or achievement.” I want to focus on the word “effort.” The reward would not mean as much if it was easy. Having a family and keeping it together takes effort. I think of people I know who have family they have completely lost touch with. They have lost touch because it is easier to drift apart than it is to fight to keep it together. The whole book of Ruth is a story of Naomi and Ruth leaning on the strength of the Lord and pushing forward to save their family. It would have been much easier for both of them to have just given up to their circumstances. Parents, you have to be willing to fight for your kids. Siblings, you have to be willing to work hard to have God-honoring relationships with your brothers and sisters. Parents with adult kids, you have to commit to honoring God in building your relationship with your soon-to-be daughter or son-in-law. I could go on and on with examples, but for the reward to be given, there must be God-honoring and Holy Spirit-filled effort in those relationships.

8. Do you believe you put in the proper effort needed for your family? What changes could you make to do better in this area?

Ephesians 2:13-19 says, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.”

When we talk about effort and sacrifice, Jesus Himself made the ultimate sacrifice on the cross for us. It was so we could be a part of His family. This section of Ephesians shows us that through the blood of Christ, we have been brought near, and we are no longer strangers, but we can now belong to the household of God. It is so important for us to always remember that no matter the circumstances of our earthly family, as Christians we belong to the body of Christ. It may be a family that at times can be the most dysfunctional of them all, yet still a family from which come so many blessings. When we share the same Heavenly Father, we are able to care for each other as true brothers and sisters. If you find yourself without an earthly family, please be encouraged to know that you have brothers and sisters in Christ all around you. God made the ultimate sacrifice of His Son so that we could all be united as a family with Him. What an incredible reward it is to each and every one of us to be included in the family of God.

9. Do you view the church as a family?

10. How does it encourage you to know that you are a part of that family as a believer?

We see so clearly through the story of Ruth the true reward that family can be. Through Naomi and Ruth’s reward of Obed, we all were given the opportunity to receive the reward of being a part of God’s family through the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I am so thankful for the faithfulness of Ruth and Naomi as we are reaping the rewards of their obedience to this day.