[Ruth] Recognizing the Covenant RelationshipSample

The First Close Relative

Has someone ever hugged you without knowing you really needed it? Or told you something you really needed to hear? Well, that’s God’s grace at work in your life right there! That is precisely what Ruth had been experiencing after a mutual recognition between her and Boaz of the covenant relationship they shared.

Ruth had been gleaning in Boaz’s fields. When it was mealtime, Boaz told her to come and sit with him and the rest of the reapers and eat some bread until she was satisfied. Ruth could even keep some for Naomi—a picture of Boaz’s generosity flowing to Ruth and finally back to Naomi.

When she got up and went back to glean, Boaz commanded the men to let her glean even among the sheaves without blaming her and to purposely let grain fall from their bundles for her to pick up.

Boaz’s actions show us his character. He called people to him, sat down with them, and extended his grace to them. Does he remind you of someone?

Boaz met Ruth’s immediate need for generosity, physical needs for food, emotional need for security, and spiritual need for abundant blessing fulfillment by letting her glean in the sheaves and get the best of the crop.

This is what grace does: it meets a need we can’t meet ourselves and allows us to experience unmerited and undeserved favor.

Grace opens the door for a more intimate relationship with God, our Giver of Grace. Recognizing the grace we receive is crucial to entering a proper relationship with the Lord and giving Him the proper thanks. Ruth walked into grace and recognized it, which opened the door for a more intimate relationship with her Giver of grace—Boaz—who is a picture of Christ.

Grace is infectious and passed from one person to another and cannot be contained. God blessed Boaz, who then graced Ruth, who did the same with Naomi. Ruth met Naomi’s needs which made the latter so happy that she had to ask who had blessed her this much!

Like Naomi, when people see evidence of God’s grace in our lives, they will always ask about the Source of that grace. That is our opportunity to tell them about Jesus Christ. The grace in us can’t help but reflect Jesus Christ, Whose goodness is truly infectious. We can’t help but, out of gratitude, tell others about this Giver of grace in our lives.

How does grace flow from me to others?