Friday, November 10, 2023

But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.

Ruth 1:16-18

Today we will look at the lives of two characters: Ruth and Boaz. Ruth was the great-grandmother of David, and she went to Bethlehem with her mother in-law Naomi after the deaths of Naomi’s husband and Naomi’s sons. One was Ruth’s husband. There in Bethlehem, Ruth was allowed to glean in the field belonging to Boaz, a wealthy, honorable relative of Ruth’s husband. Nelson’s Bible Dictionary defines “gleaning” as the gathering of grain left in the fields by reapers. In Old Testament times, gleanings were left for the poor.

In a selfless, compassionate, and empathetic act, Ruth gave up a life with her own family to journey with Naomi to a land she never knew. In the end, she became an ancestor of both David and Jesus, the Messiah. Seeing Naomi’s need, Boaz was compassionate. He told his workers to leave grain for Ruth to gather. Because of his act, Ruth and Naomi survived.

PRAYER: Thank you, Father, for showing me through Ruth’s story that you have a perfect plan for my life. When your plan is unclear but I know you are leading me, please reveal yourself as you did to Ruth and Boaz. Then, help me to walk in obedience and faith, including when that means looking out for those who are less fortunate than I am. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.