A Daily Devotion for Tuesday, November 3
Ruth 2:1-16
Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a man of standing from the clan of Elimelek, whose name was Boaz.
And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor. ”
Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.” So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek.
Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “The LORD be with you! ”
“The LORD bless you! ” they answered.
Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, “Who does that young woman belong to?”
The overseer replied, “She is the Moabite who came back from Moab with Naomi. She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.’ She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.”
So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me. Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.”
At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me —a foreigner? ”
Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband —how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the LORD repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge. ”
“May I continue to find favor in your eyes, my lord,” she said. “You have put me at ease by speaking kindly to your servant—though I do not have the standing of one of your servants.”
At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar.”
When she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some roasted grain. She ate all she wanted and had some left over. As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, “Let her gather among the sheaves and don’t reprimand her. Even pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke her.”
Once again we are reading and learning about small acts of service (love). We are unlikely to run across an opportunity to essentially save an entire family, as Boaz did, but we all know there are many opportunities out there to lend a hand. I love how Ruth also never gave up on her MIL Naomi, and pledged her life to her. This is why the song “Wither Thou Goest” is used at weddings (like ours!). Just like Ruth pledged to be faithful in service to her husband’s mother, and to go with her, and take care of her, and take on her burdens and joys with her, we pledge ourselves in marriage to our partner. It is not necessarily the most romantic part of the pledge, but I believe it is the most meaningful part, and the holy part.
Holy Lord, I pray today that I will see my opportunities to do kind things for others, not for any personal gain, but for their comfort. Be with me today, guide me and lead me to do good in your name. Amen
Becky, transforming
Ruth 2:1-16
I look at Ruth with great admiration. Losing her husband, no doubt, made her life and what was to be quite uncertain, but yet she she chooses to go with Naomi adding another significant layer of uncertainty AND she willingly accepts Naomi’s God. God most certainly placed Ruth in Boaz’s field, part of his bigger plan, and what a plan it was! God works quietly through others to help those in need as he worked through Ruth. I think is it particularly beautiful when Boaz says, “May you be richly rewarded by the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” How much more comfortable could you be than under the wings of God?
Ruth 2:1-16
For me, Ruth’s story is a demonstration of God’s sovereignty. If Ruth and Naomi had hatched a scheme to weedle their way into Boaz’s good graces for their own gain, the plan may well have blown up in their faces. This is a comforting story of how God lovingly and creatively allows circumstances to unfold to His honor and glory. Ruth and Boaz have a son named Obed, whose son was Jesse, whose son was David and on down the line to the birth of Jesus. We never know what simple acts we do on earth will have eternal significance, but if done in the name of and in praise, worship and thanksgiving to God, the possibility always…