Ruth 4:13‭-‬15 KJV So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bare a son. And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the Lord, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel. And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath born him.

Boaz and Ruth are now joined in the bounds of holy matrimony... at last. What a journey! What great joy! Both Ruth and Boaz had to prove their integrity before they could enjoy the fullness of God's blessing upon their life. Here is Ruth, the former idol worshiper who has become the wife of the most powerful man in town. As a stranger, she came to Bethlehem empty handed but with a heart ful of love for her old mother-in-law and full of expectant faith in the God she had decided to trust. She had decided to face rejection as she engaged herself in an adventure into the unknown. Now the time had come for Elohim to reward the stuborn faith, her genuine love, her humility and her willingness to serve without expecting any reward in return. Kings would be born in her lineage and generations after generations the story of this peculiar Moabite woman would be told to edify the nations.

Yes, God is faithful, and she was proving to Ruth that she did the right choice by leaving her home country to follow a poor widow in an unknown country. She had decided to practically lay down her own life and forget about her personal interests simply because of her love for Naomi. Now the time had come where God could wipe away her tears and comfort her after everything she had lost. She was getting an overflowing cup with God's abundant measure of grace, favor, security and wealth. Yes, the God of Naomi did not deceive her and she was ever willing to serve and love Him with all her hear. But not only that, she was ever determined to worship Him with her God's given husband and foremost, she was perfectly convicted that it was the right thing to train her God's given son in he ways of this extraordinary God of Israel.

Ruth had made a big step of faith the day she had decided to follow Naomi to Bethlehem. We remember what she had told her: "But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. 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 do the same to me [as He has done to you], and more also, if anything but death separates me from you.” (Ruth 1: 16-17 AMP) What determination! What a pledge to serve and love! The Bible tells us that God is the Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrew 11: 6). Indeed there is no greater love than to lay down our life for our brothers and sisters, just as JESUS taught us in John 15: 13. In this happy ending in the story of Ruth, we see God honoring her diligence and rewarding her beyond every expectation. He is the same yesterday, today and forever, and He is willing to bless us aswell if we obey His commandments to love and serve without any selfish motives.

As we celebrate the death, the burial and the resurrection of Jesus-Christ of Nazareth in the feast of the Passover, may the reality of God's sacrifice of love remind us to love Him back without measure and love our neighbour as we love ourselves. Happy Easter celebration. md