This write-up is the drawn out from the life of Ruth the
daughter-in-law of Naomi as seen in the book of Ruth. Some lessons which I was
personally able to draw out are written below. These are areas which we should
as well strive to improve in our daily walk with Christ.
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Lesson One:
Strive to be a man/woman of your word!
Ruth made a sort of vow/promise to
Naomi her mother-in-law in verse 16 – 17
of Chapter 1, and I’m certain that as I read through to the end of this
book in the bible, I will find out that she upheld her promise.
One common thing I have noticed
with the people of old, is their penchant for holding their words as their
bonds. This is one attribute that seems to have deserted us. We need to
re-learn this as a matter of urgency.
Prayer Point: Dear father, help me be a man/woman of my word, help
me speak/promise only that which I will be able to do and which also falls in
your Will for my life in Jesus name
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Lesson Two:
Loyalty does not go Unrewarded/Unnoticed.
Another trait that seems to be very scarce
to the modern man is LOYALTY!
This is a trait that dictates you sticking
around through thick and thin. The evidence of the lack of this trait/attribute
abounds everywhere;
ü
Increase in the rate of divorce
ü
Church-Jumping Christians in search of quick
miracles due to impatience
ü
Fair-weather friends
ü
Even political sycophants, as seen even in the
Nigerian polity.
The beauty of this trait is that,
though loyal acts usually seem to go unnoticed, they are actually never
unrewarded. The one who matters takes notice. Therefore in due course, the act
will soon be rewarded (by Him), as long as it was for a just cause.
You will notice that Ruth’s ACT of
loyalty seemed to have only been between the two of them, news soon spread
about this to Boaz, who duly favored her in no small measure (Chapter 2 Verse
11-12).
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Lesson
Three: Persistence pays
Ruth’s persistence as against Orpah’s ‘quick-to-back-down’ disposition ensured that
she got a passage into the fold of God’s chosen people. This is a great lesson
for us believers, that though the world we’ve left behind when we accepted
Christ might seem alluring, and all Logic might even point to the former life
as a better option (Just as Naomi was trying to point out to her
daughter’s-in-law), we must persevere and adhere to our initial commitment to
forsake the old life and embrace the new life in Christ Jesus. Chapter 1 Verse
18 captures this.
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Lesson
Four: To reap doubly, your input is actually first required.
Ruth will probably not have come across her
benefactor Boaz had she not opted to go out and work.
Without prompting, Ruth opted to go out and
set about toiling, and that brought her to her place of favor.
To enter into our place of favor, we
actually need to take a step – a step of faith you might say.
NOTE
The word enter in itself, is a verb that
connotes movement of some sort. So you actually need to start “doing” and stop
“idling”.
ü
God rewards us by enabling us eat of the “fruits
of our labor”
ü
God is a God of Miracle and not a magician. He
has set-out certain laws to govern the earth, and he honors such himself. One
of such goes thus; in order to reap you
must sow.
What God now does, is to set about multiplying
your effort and giving you a bountiful harvest.
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Lesson
Five: Learn to be kind.
Boaz, as depicted in Chapter 2 must have
been a kind-hearted fellow, who genuinely cared for the plight of others. It is
not a surprise therefore, that they (Ruth and Boaz) happened to be in the
family tree of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.
Christ Jesus as seen in the scripture
remained eternally loyal to God. Philippians 2: 6-7 aptly captures this; “who
being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God
7But made himself of no
reputation and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men:”
Secondly, there has and never will be a
greater Love and sacrifice as that of Christ.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that individuals
(Ruth and Boaz) who possessed such key traits as seen in Christ’s ministry
happened to be in His bloodline.
Rather than our usual prayer of asking God
to grant us favor with men and prayers for people to show us mercy, kindness
and Love; why don’t we pray the following prayer for a change:
Father Lord, help me see the needs of those
around me and grant me a loving and compassionate heart that I may go out of my
way to grant them succor. Grant me the heart of Christ o’ Lord in Jesus name I
pray.
Image from: http://www.truli.com/taxonomy/term/1081/en
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