Sunday 28 October, 2018

3 One day Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, I must find a home[a] for you, where you will be well provided for. 2 Now Boaz, with whose women you have worked, is a relative of ours. Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. 3 Wash, put on perfume, and get dressed in your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do.” 5 “I will do whatever you say,” Ruth answered.

This is one of those passages where it’s tricky to work out what to say. It may mean more than is appropriate to talk about in such a blog – we don’t really understand some of the ways they approached matchmaking. However, we can look at Ruth and how she approached life to see what we can learn.

Ruth was committed to supporting Naomi, her mother in law. She had come with Naomi from her home to be with her in Naomi’s home. That’s a big deal. Naomi tried to talk her out of it a number of times. Ruth held true to what she believed she was to do.

In this passage Naomi is trying to look after Ruth in return (and herself). Ruth again stays true to what she believes. She trusts Naomi to know what is appropriate and good for her.  She doesn’t argue or question. I find her approach amazing – going to parties is not my favourite thing and putting myself in risky situations is also something I struggle with. But Ruth trusted that Naomi knew what was needed and was looking to help provide a future for Ruth.

We have times when we struggle to do what God has asked us to do. Sometimes we don’t want to do whatever it is, sometimes we are scared, sometimes we just think we heard wrong. But look at Ruth’s response – I’ll do it!!

Lord help us to learn from You what the plan for our life should be. Help us to choose to stick with that plan even when it gets tricky. Help us to be willing to follow You, to choose to believe that You are for us more than we can possibly imagine and You are trustworthy.

Written by Therese Manning