“Now it is true that I am a close relative; however, there is a kinsman closer than I. Remain this night, and when morning comes, if he will redeem you, good; let him redeem you. But if he does not wish to redeem you, then I will redeem you, as the Lord lives. Lie down until the morning.”
— Ruth 3:12-13
Christ as the close relative is in our spirit, which surely desires God Himself. Our natural man, however, as our closest kinsman, is in our soul. In our soul is something called the soul-life, which wants both God and the world. The world exists to match all the desires of the three sections of the natural man: our mind, our emotion, and our will. It is our mind and our emotion that determine which of these two kinsmen will be joined to us.
Adapted from Ruth: Growth Unto Maturity, page 78.
Tomorrow: “The Three Sections of the World”