Ruth 2: 17-19 NKJV - So she gleaned in the field until evening, and beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. Then she took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. So she brought out and gave to her what she had kept back after she had been satisfied. And her mother-in-law said to her, "Where have you gleaned today? And where did you work? Blessed be the one who took notice of you." So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, "The man's name with whom I worked today is Boaz."

After taking that good meal during which she had a nice conversation with Boaz, it was time to go back to work and Ruth did not sluggish. She did not become so comfortable sitting there as to forget the reason why she had come. She ate just enough to be able to stand up again and continue her work without any feeling of heaviness in her stomach. She did not exaggerate at the table when the food was served but was rather moderate. She did not act as a poor foreign girl who is starving for food and is just waiting for an opportunity to fill her stomach. No, she was reasonable and considerate in her behaviour and she had good manners, even though her life had been marked with lack. She had learned to control her desires and her social behaviour despite the hardships of life. Her sense of responsibility got her up and she promptly went back to work with the other workers. The Bible tells us that she worked hard until evening. She proved herself worthy of Boaz’s trust who had asked his servants to purposely leave some grain among the sheaves for her to glean. Ruth proved that she was up to the task. She was not lazy or slack in her work. She worked diligently until evening and she did not quit before time but stopped when the others stopped. Yes, she showed that she was worthy of the favour granted to her and Boaz was not disappointed. As a matter of fact, he was happy that he had trusted the inner strength he had felt in this young lady’s soul. She had worked all day, had beaten the grain and had carried her harvest home.

Sadly to say, GOD’s children are not always worthy of His trust. How many times do we abuse the grace and mercy of GOD? We go to HIM crying for HIS goodness and kindness to be manifested in our lives. We pray and fast for a new job with a better salary and better conditions and GOD grants our request. But when we start that new job, we start stealing things at work or flirting with a work colleague or telling lies about ourselves and others. How often do we violate the goodness of GOD in our lives? How often did GOD had to shake HIS head in disappointment because we did not prove ourselves worthy of HIS goodness? Our heavenly Father is a GOD who answers prayers but HE is also a consuming fire and HE is not mocked. Whatsoever a man sows, that also he will reap (Galatians 6:7). The Bible says that whosoever calls upon the name of the LORD should depart from evil and we are admonished to flee from every appearance of evil (2 Timothy 2:19; 1 Thessalonians 5:22). We should not become too comfortable when GOD blesses us so as to forget that we can and will never deserve HIS goodness. When we are able to remember where GOD took us from, then we will know that we cannot afford to take advantage of HIS favour, grace and kindness. GOD’s grace is not a license to sin and sinning willingly and continually without repentance leads to ultimate death, both physical and spiritual. But GOD is faithful and true to forgive us our sins if we confess and forsake them.

The extended grace and favour of Boaz towards Ruth could have made some of the workers who were around to become jealous of her. Why her? We don’t even know her. She is a stranger in this town and in this field. We know the master longer than she does. We should be granted that favour, not her! Why her anyway?!? She is just a poor Moabite girl, a children killer, an idol worshipper who believes in a god made of stone. How can the master show so must trust in her?? When people don’t like you, they know very well how to recall your past mistakes that GOD and yourself have forgotten about, and they become an easy tool of destruction in the hands of the devil. It is not impossible that some of these jealous people tried to make Ruth look bad in the eyes of Boaz. Maybe some were even bold enough to tell him that he was doing a mistake by allowing her in his field, and as if it was not enough, he was favouring her above some of them whom he had known for a longer period of time and who were true descendants of Jacob. But Boaz was the master and he was free to show grace and mercy, goodness and kindness to whomever he wished to do so, just as GOD Himself. Who can contempt with GOD when He decides to pour out HIS blessing upon us? Who can separate us from the love of GOD? Is it backbiting? Jealousy? Insults? As the Bible says, nothing shall by any means separate us from the love of GOD which was manifested in Christ Jesus, not even death (Romans 8:35-29). We are blessed and highly favoured of the LORD and our heavenly Father loves us with an unshakable love. He cannot be corrupted and He extends more grace and mercy to those who do not deserve it. When the world turns its back on us, our Master welcomes us in HIS arms of love. When HE says yes, nobody can say no.

In the character of Ruth, we can also see that she is not a selfish person. When she was given the chance to eat until she was satisfied, she made sure that she kept some of her meal to bring it home to her mother-in-law after work. She is a woman who takes pleasure in caring for Naomi and making her happy. As a virtuous woman, she is happy when the people around her are happy. She does not give herself rest until she knows that her loved ones and the people that she is responsible for have all they need. Even though she has never been a mother before, she has that motherly instinct running in her veins and she is not at peace until those who are precious to her are satisfied and cared for. Moreover, Ruth is an honest and truthful woman. She did not hide part of the grain that she had gleaned in Boaz’s field that day to go and sell afterwards secretly and keep the money for herself, just as Ananias and Saphira did in Acts 5:1-11. She never tried to do things behind Naomi’s back. She is not a hypocritical person and she knows that we cannot fool GOD. HE is everywhere, sees everything and knows everything. As she makes her way back home to see Naomi after a hard day work, she can’t wait to tell her mother-in-law everything that happened and how GOD favoured her. When she arrives at home, she meets a Naomi who is equally impatient to hear about her first work experience in a field. The atmosphere is full of joy and excitement and of course, Naomi immediately wants to know in which field Ruth worked, and Ruth’s answer is: “The man's name with whom I worked today is Boaz”. (To be continued). md