WFTD: Redeemed (ga’ al): It’s all in the family.

Lord, You have pleaded my soul’s cause; You have redeemed my life.

Lamentations 3:58

EXPOSITION: To redeem is to purchase, to deliver. In Hebrew, to redeem is strongly associated with relationship. The next of kin has the right to keep what’s in the family in the family.

BACKSTORY: In Lamentations, the prophet Jeremiah and the family of God’s people, under the weight of God’s judgment on them because of their idolatry and their cruel injustice on the least, the lowly, the last on the social strata, were crying out. God was angry with them but not to the point of giving up on the family. He heard Jeremiah’s prayer and would change their exile situation. He will deliver them, redeem them to keep the family together. But changes had to be made.

Prayer doesn’t change things. It reveals where we need to change, especially where it comes to how we treat each other.

APPLICATION: Redeem each other. Boaz did. In the Book of Ruth, he stepped up, showed kindness to his relative Naomi's foreign daughter-in-law, Ruth, by allowing her to glean in his fields for grain. Fulfilling his role as a kinsman-redeemer (Goel, גֹּאֵל), Boaz marries Ruth, securing her and Naomi's future, and their marriage leads to the birth of Obed. From his family lineage comes King David, and from him comes Jesus, and from Him comes our salvation from the eternal judgment for our sins. 

We are all each other’s kinsman-redeemer because we have opportunities of kindness like Boaz, like the stranger at a well-known restaurant that has been in the news—Cracker Barrell--for the change of their decor. This story of kindness is courtesy of Nyesha Wingate who submitted it to quora.com ((1) Good Vibes ツ )—a website “space is dedicated to share the cool stories & facts we have in our planet.

“This morning, I had a wonderful surprise at Cracker Barrel. The waiter came over, ripped up my bill, and said, “This has been paid for! Then, a kind man approached me with tears in his eyes and said, “We need to stop all the tension in America, and I’ve been looking for way to make a difference!” I gave him a big hug and thanked him. I felt so blessed by his kindness and conversation—more than the meal itself. How can we hate someone made by a perfect and loving God? Thank you, Al. I pray God blesses America with more people like you.”

Cracker Barrell has changed its exterior. What matters is the change of heart toward kindness no matter where we eat together

Don’t throw away family. Buy into them. You never know, in the family on man, who will be the agent of our change for the better like Al.