Ruth Series: Character Matters
Devotion by Graeme Harrison)
PRAYER: For the graces of the Holy Spirit
O merciful God,
fill our hearts with the graces of the Holy Spirit,
with love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Teach us to love those who hate us,
to bless those who curse us,
and to pray for those who abuse us,
that we may be the children of our Father:
who makes the sun shine on the evil and the good,
and sends rain on the just and unjust.
In adversity grant us grace to be patient;
in prosperity keep us humble;
may we guard the door of our lips;
may we lightly regard the pleasures of this world,
and thirst only after heavenly things;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
St Anselm, 1033-1109
Read:
Ruth 2:1-11. Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
1Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a man of standing from the clan of Elimelek, whose name was Boaz.
2And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favour.”
Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.”
3So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek.
4Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “The Lord be with you!”
bless you!” they answered.
5Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, “Who does that young woman belong to?”
6The overseer replied, “She is the Moabite who came back from Moab with Naomi.
7She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.’ She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.”
8So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me.
9Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.”
10At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favour in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?”
11Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before.
12May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”
(Ruth 2:1-11NIV)
Thought for the Day:
“I’ve been told …” It is not only bad news that gets talked about in the community. Surprising actions that reveal a wonderful character gets much airspace as well. Ruth’s selfless acts were both extravagant and noticed. As a result Boaz (who she had never met) wanted to support her.
Grace works the same way now as it did then. Extravagant love towards others changes minds and changes lives. And it all begins in the heart.
What sort of person do I want to be?