Ruth & Boaz: A Different Kind of Love

Just this week I’ve started teaching the Book of Ruth again, this time to women at my church (over the summer I hosted friends in my home). I could study and teach this book every semester…not only is it a fantastic short story, but the characters are timeless. Good literature is most often remembered–at least in my opinion–because of the characters. Whether lovable or dispicable, they stick in our minds long after we put the book down. Ruth is no different.

Think of Elimelech, Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz. Their experiences mirror ours today: hardship, hopelessness, loss, grief, starting over, faith, risk, faithfulness, redemption, honor, joy. Who can say they would have chosen to stick it out in Bethlehem, the house of (no) bread, during the famine? Can I assert that I would have trusted God as I watched my husband, then my sons, die in a foreign land, leaving me destitute? Would I have been like Ruth (of course!), leaving all I knew to follow and serve an ungrateful mother-in-law? (Hmmm…) Who would marry a stranger, hard worker though she may be, in order to support a distant relative’s widow?

As the characters in Ruth were faced with choices that tested their faith, so it is with us. And just as some passed the test and others didn’t, we, too, will “win some, lose some.” What makes the difference?

Our view of God will determine how we choose. Ruth chose risk, sacrifice, hard work, and faithfulness because she had chosen to believe in Yahweh–she switched teams, as it were, and joined the other side. Her faith in Him compelled her to action, to show faithful love to Naomi, who needed her.

Boaz was much the same. His relationship with Yahweh becomes evident progressively, as his generosity and care for the widows takes shape. As a landowner, he was required only to allow gleaners like Ruth to walk behind his harvesters and gather the remnants. Instead, he brought Ruth into the company of his female workers, providing an abundance of grain for her. He went beyond the letter of the Law, fulfilling the spirit of the Law instead.

Take 15 minutes and read the book of Ruth. Watch Ruth and Boaz–not as a “couple,” but in how each serves Naomi. Both exhibit faithful love (hesed).

Faith requires action. “Without works, faith is dead,” says James (2:17). I’m thankful that my church has become proactive in social justice issues, offering us opportunities to serve, give, and go to people who need help. God put suffering families on our street–an obvious challenge to help tangibly in love and compassion. For the last year or so, showing God (not just knowing Him) has been at the forefront of my studies and devotions. He won’t let me forget my calling!

The holidays are approaching, bringing laughter and tears, happiness and sorrow, joy and pain. Let’s be looking for ways to show our love for God. Like Ruth and Boaz, and like Jesus, we can reflect Love in the flesh.
Have you experienced God’s love through someone’s specific actions or words? Did you take a risk of some sort (emotional, financial, career…) when you obeyed God’s prompting to serve others in a new way?

How do you plan to be Christ incarnate–Jesus with skin on–in the days to come?