Ruth 2:8-13
8 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. 9 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.”
Boaz talked to Ruth and told her that she could stay and gather grain in his field. He told her to stay with the women who worked for him. He told her that she should just follow the women that were already working, and he assured her that his men wouldn't touch her. He told her to help herself to the water that was there. He was kind to her. He comforted her.
God tells us the same thing. He tells us that we can stay where we are. We can follow the amazing Christian people who have come before us. God tells us that Satan won't touch us. God invites us to drink freely from his living water.
Wow. That was a great analogy. Hah.
10 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?”
Ruth bowed down to him and asked him why he was so kind to a lowly foreigner.
Why is God so kind to us? Strangers in a foreign land.
Good question, Ruth!
11 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. 12 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.”
Boaz told her that he had heard what she had done for Naomi since her husband had died. He heard how she left her family to come to the people she didn't know. He said "My 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." (emphasis added my moi. Obviously.)
How hard must it have been for Ruth to leave her family? How appealing must it have seemed to go back to her family? She was given the chance. But because she was following God, she chose to keep following him in the form of following Naomi. Ruth was taking refuge under the wing of THE God of Israel. We can take refuge under his wing too. And that's super awesome and comforting.
13 “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.”
Ruth was put at ease by what Boaz said. Just by the way he was talking to her, speaking kindly to her even though she wasn't even one of his servants.
I'm thinking that I want to be kinda like Boaz and kinda like Ruth. I want to be humble and faithful like Ruth, but I want to be a kind leader who speaks encouragement and comfort into others lives.
Now... how to do that. Well, prayer and keep on reading! :)
G'night everyone!
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