Bible in a Year - Women’s Thematic Reading Plan | Day 180

Day 180 of the Women’s Bible Plan: Read Ruth 4:13-17 and reflect on the birth of Obed, the child born to Ruth and Boaz who became a comfort to Naomi. Through this family story, this devotional helps us see how children can become a grace of family restoration, and how God can bring new hope after loss, loneliness, and brokenness.

🌸  Dear Sister, welcome to Day 180 of our reading journey. 

Some family stories have been filled with tears. When Naomi first left Bethlehem, she had a husband and two sons. But when she returned, she had lost her husband and both sons, with only Ruth, her Moabitess daughter in law, choosing to walk with her. Naomi once said, “Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.”

Yet the ending of the book of Ruth shows us that God did not leave Naomi’s story in bitterness. Ruth married Boaz, and the Lord gave her conception, and she bare a son. His name was Obed. Scripture tells us that the women said to Naomi that the Lord had not left her without a kinsman, and that this child would be a restorer of her life and a nourisher of her old age.

This is not only the story of a child being born. It is the story of a family receiving comfort, continuation, and hope again. The birth of Obed shines like a gentle light into Naomi’s heart after years of loss. Through a new life, God allowed a broken family to see the grace of restoration.

A Minute of Grace

Ruth 4:13-17 records that after Ruth and Boaz were married, the Lord gave Ruth conception, and she bare a son. The neighbor women later gave him the name Obed. He was not only the son of Ruth and Boaz, but also an important grace and comfort to Naomi in her old age.

This passage is very tender. It does not only focus on Ruth becoming a mother. It also helps us see Naomi’s restoration. Naomi had experienced deep loss: leaving her homeland, losing her husband, losing her sons, facing poverty, loneliness, and the fear of having no family line continue. Her life seemed to have moved from “pleasant” to “bitter.” Yet through Ruth’s faithfulness, Boaz’s redemption, and Obed’s birth, God slowly brought grace back into this household.

In this passage, a child is not only a new member of the family, but also a sign of family restoration. The women said to Naomi that this child would be a restorer of her life and a nourisher of her old age. For Naomi, Obed’s birth meant that she had not been forgotten by God. Her household had not been completely cut off. Her later years did not have to be defined only by grief and emptiness. God had prepared comfort after deep loss.

At the same time, this passage also reminds us that children are not the whole meaning of a parent’s or grandparent’s life, nor are they tools meant to fill the wounds of adults. True comfort comes from God. Yet God often brings grace into a family through new life, the growth of the next generation, restored relationships, and the connection of love. Through children, families may see that God is still continuing His blessing.

Today’s theme, “Ruth Bears Obed: Comfort for Naomi,” invites us to reflect on grace in parenting and family life. The birth and growth of children are not only responsibilities; they can also become comfort from God within a family. The love of parents and grandparents for children is not only a matter of bloodline, but also a passing down of faith, hope, and grace. God can rebuild families after brokenness and give new life after loss.

Whispers for the Heart

1 Naomi once felt that she had returned empty, but through the birth of Obed, God brought comfort back into her life. Have you ever experienced loss, brokenness, regret, or emptiness in your family? How does this passage help you believe that God can still prepare new grace within your family story?

2 The women said that Obed would be a restorer of Naomi’s life and a nourisher of her old age. How do you view the place of children in a family? Are you willing to receive children as lives entrusted by God, rather than as objects of pressure, comparison, control, or self-fulfillment?

3 Obed later became the grandfather of David and was placed in an important line in God’s redemptive history. Do you believe that the seemingly ordinary care, companionship, nurture, and prayers within a family today may also be placed by God into a much greater plan?

As you read Ruth 4:13-17 today, do not only notice the birth of a child. Also see how God used this child to comfort Naomi, restore a family, and continue His redemptive story through ordinary family life.

Take a quiet breath before you begin. Bring your family, children, parents, grandparents, losses, hopes, and family relationships before the Lord, and let His Word meet you there.

🎞️ Today's Youtube Video 

🪕 Response Hymn: 

Ruth 4:13-17 (KJV)

13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bare a son.

14 And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the Lord, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel.

15 And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath born him.

16 And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it.

17 And the women her neighbours gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

🪕 Response Hymn: 

💡 Closing Thought · A Gentle Light of Family Restoration

After reading Ruth 4:13-17, we see that Obed’s birth was not only joy for Ruth and Boaz. It was also a moment of renewed comfort for Naomi. Naomi, who once said she had returned empty, now held a child in her arms and heard the women say that he would be a restorer of her life and a nourisher of her old age. God placed new life into a family marked by sorrow, allowing them to see hope again.

As we close this page and return to our own family lives, perhaps your home is not perfect. Perhaps parent-child relationships carry weariness, conflict, regret, and many lessons still to be learned. Yet remember this: God can still give restoring grace in ordinary family life. A child’s growth, a sincere embrace, a word of blessing, or a night of prayer may become a small light through which God begins to heal a family.

May today’s Scripture remind you that children are lives entrusted by God and gifts through which grace may be carried within a family. May we have less control and more blessing in our parent-child and generational relationships; less anxiety and more trust; less passing down of wounds and more passing down of grace. May God comfort, heal, and renew our homes in His love.

🎉🎉 Congratulations on completing today's devotion! 🎉🎉