"Ruth was as welcome in Bethlehem as a roach raiding the pantry. Naomi, Ruth's mother in law, had tried to dissuade Ruth from follwoing her, convinced that Ruth had a more promising future in Moab.
Ruth was aware of the initial resentment against her in Bethlehem, but she refused to accept rejection. Instead, she placed herself in the Lord's hands as she went out to glean in the fields of any "in whose eyes I find favor" (Ruth 2:2). By chance "she chose the fields of Boaz, a relative of Naomi's late husband, by Israelite law a kinsman-redeemer and one Israelite with a heart big enough to overlook he Moabite heritage.
When Ruth decided to give her life to the God of Israel, she also decided to trust his people. And God blessed her. He placed her with trustworthy people who had her best interest at heart - and who feared God.
What can we find in Ruth's character to emulate? Everything. We too can refuse to accept the rejection that the world uses to keep us from following hard after God. We have a kinsman-redeemer far greater than Boaz. The Lord Jesus Christ will advise, protect and provide for us for the rest of our lives. Count on it."
Meditations:
"I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes-I,and not another. How my heart yearns within me!"
JOB 19:25-27
"A highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness...Only the redeemed will walk there, and the ransomed of the Lord will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away."
ISAIAH 35:8-10