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| Ruth |
| Strengths LifeLessons |
| When we first meet Ruth she is a widow who through her husband's death is left with her widowed mother-in-law, Naomi, and sister-in-law,Oprah, also a widow. Now Naomi had heard that the Lord had come to the rescue in her home town of Bethlehem and she was going to go back. Naomi told her daughters-in-law to turn back since they were still young and could get husbands. Oprah kissed Naomi and went to be with her people, but Ruth told Naomi,'Don't urge mr to leave you or to turn back for 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 anything but death separates you and me.' Naomi finally quit trying to argue with her. Ruth was very devoted to Naomi, she loved her as her own mother. When they arrived in Bethlehem just as the barley harvest was begnning so Ruth told Naomi that she would go to gather some grain behind anyone who's eyes she found favor in, she went to work in a field that just happened to belong tosome of Naomi's relatives, Boaz. Just then Boaz returned to his field and inquired as to who she was and the foreman explained that she had come from Moab with Naomi. When she stopped to take a rest Boaz told her not to glean (gather) in another field and to stay with his servant girls (it was considered improper for a young lady to be alone), he also told his workers to leave extra barley for her to gather. She was not afraid of hard work, she worked until evening and then went to thresh the barley she had gathered. She carried it back to town where she and Naomi lived and Naomi saw how much she had gotten she asked where she had worked. Naomi then found out that she had been working in the field of her relative, she said this was good for her. Naomi thought out a plan to get Ruth a good home, she told Ruth to go the threshing floor and when Boaz was through eating and drinking, exactly what to do to humble herself to him. Ruth did what Naomi had told her to do and she found great favor in his eyes. He was amazed at her knidness and that she didn't try to get a young man and that he would be her kinsman-redeemer. Boaz soon asked Ruth to marry him and they were married, only after Boaz settled the property of Naomi's husband and sons so that there names would not dissapear from among the his family or the town records. They soon had a son who was a descendant of David and Jesus. Ruth's loving kindness toward her mother-in-law is one of the most beautiful illustrations of love that I have ever seen, she could have done as her sister-in-law did and let Naomi go off on her own. But she felt such compassion for her that she didn't want to be separated from her and not know what happened to her.' Jesus called his disciples to him and said,"I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way."' {Matthew 15:32} Ruth felt responsibility toward Naomi even though it was not required of her but proved she was trustworthy. 'Like the coolness of snow at harvest time is a trustworthy messenger to those who send him; he refreshes the spirit of his masters.' {Pro-verbs 25:13} |
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