Ruth
Ruth 1:22-2:9, 4:13-17
So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.
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.”
So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. The women said to Naomi: “Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.”
Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
Ruth was a Moabite woman and not an Israelite, but she married an Israelite man whose mother was Naomi. Naomi had already lost her husband when tragedy struck and her two sons also died. This left Ruth and Naomi alone. Ruth could have chosen to stay in her own country with her own family, but instead she chose costly love by embracing Naomi’s people, homeland and God as her own. This decision not only cost Ruth the comfort of a familiar landscape and culture, it also led to a lot of uncertainty about how she and Naomi would find food and shelter. Ruth is working hard to bring in grain for herself and Naomi when Boaz steps onto the scene with his own act of costly love. Boaz chooses to act as a “redeemer” for Ruth and Naomi by marrying Ruth, providing for them both and eventually fathering a child with her.
God works through our acts of love and compassion towards one another. Through Ruth’s choice to leave everything familiar behind and Boaz’s choice to marry an outsider, God brought about the birth of David and eventually the birth of Jesus Christ. This was something that neither one of them could have foreseen, but it was nevertheless the fruit of their faithful love despite the cost. What choices of costly love might God be calling you to today? How have you been blessed by other people’s choice to love despite the cost?
Prayer:
Thank God for his costly love towards us. Thank God for those who have shown you love. Ask God to help you show love to others, no matter what the cost.