OUTCOMES OF GENEROSITY
Opening Prayer
“Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed; save me, and I will be saved, for You are the one I praise” (Jer. 17:14).
Read RUTH 2:14–23
14 At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar.”
When she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some roasted grain. She ate all she wanted and had some left over. 15 As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, “Let her gather among the sheaves and don’t reprimand her. 16 Even pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke her.”
17 So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah. 18 She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over after she had eaten enough.
19 Her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!”
Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working. “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz,” she said.
20 “The Lord bless him!” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. “He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead.” She added, “That man is our close relative; he is one of our guardian-redeemers.”
21 Then Ruth the Moabite said, “He even said to me, ‘Stay with my workers until they finish harvesting all my grain.’”
22 Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with the women who work for him, because in someone else’s field you might be harmed.”
23 So Ruth stayed close to the women of Boaz to glean until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over… with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Luke 6:38).
Think Further
At one level, Boaz’s attitude towards Ruth simply reflected biblical ethics of generosity, woven right through the Torah. Offering Ruth food from his table and roasted grain with the harvesters was nothing very unusual, despite her gratitude. Yet Boaz went further than the legal requirement, asking his workers also to give her preferential treatment. We don’t know what the harvesters felt about pulling stalks out of carefully gathered bundles, to give Ruth more to glean. Today’s negative label of “scrounger” would have been unrecognized, but Ruth’s gain was Boaz’s loss, and they might have felt some resentment.
Naomi is under no illusions that Ruth has been shown favoritism and protection. Ruth’s gleaning was beyond expectations; she ate well and experienced no harassment. The day was an amazing success. Moreover, the news that the benefactor is Boaz, her own godly kinsman, produces more than thankfulness from Naomi: it prompts a renewal of faith. Ruth had no idea whose field she had entered. God’s guiding hand is evident, his mercy is shown clearly through the generosity of his faithful servant.
Naomi’s prayer of blessing on Boaz is a turning point for her. It lifts her from the darkness of her own sorrow and despondency into praise. The blessings she has received through the kindness and compassion of another she returns in heartfelt prayer back to him. It is a story of profound encouragement: to Naomi because she
realizes that God is with her; to Ruth because it is another step on the journey of trust in God. Their relationship flourishes.
Encouragement is a building block for our relationships. Despondency, irritability and even blame can be driven away when we enter new portals of hope and share together the goodness of God.
Apply
In what areas of your life do you need encouragement? How can you be assured that those who build you up will win over those who drag you down?
Closing prayer
Powerful God, discouragement is Satan’s favorite weapon, and I can succumb to it so easily. Help me gather encouragers around me so that I can move forward in Your plan for my life.
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