We Must Live by Faith in the Lord (Ruth 2:1-3)

3/17/2010 8:29 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                              Focus:  We must live by faith in the Lord

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                        Reference:  Ruth 2:1-3

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 ¶  Now Naomi had a kinsman of her husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. 2  And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, "Please let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after one in whose sight I may find favor." And she said to her, "Go, my daughter." 3  So she departed and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers; and she happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.”

            In his commentary on Ruth, Warren Wiersbe begins chapter two, “THE GREATEST OF THESE,” with these words:  “In which Boaz is surprised by love, and Ruth is overwhelmed by grace.”  He goes on to say:  “Before God changes our circumstances, He wants to change our hearts.  If our circumstances change for the better, but we remain the same, then we will become worse.  God’s purpose in providence is not to make us comfortable, but to make us conformable, ‘conformed to the image of His Son’ (Rom. 8:29).  Christlike character is the divine goal for each of His children.”

            To preview how the chapter is going to go he writes the following:  “If we want God to work in our lives and circumstances and accomplish His gracious purposes, then there are certain conditions that we must meet.  These conditions are illustrated in Ruth’s experiences in this chapter.”   And so I begin the study of the second chapter of the book of Ruth with great anticipation. 

            God put provisions into His Law to care for the widows, the orphans, and also the aliens, of which Ruth was not only a widow but also an alien.  Ruth decides to go out and gleam from the fields, and this is part of the provisions that God put into His Law to help these people who were poor, that when fields were harvested that the corners would be left for the poor, after all it was all the Lords and He could do with it as He saw fit. 

            In verse three these words are found:  “and she happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz.”  Here God’s providence is seen in that Ruth did not know whose field she was working in, but God did and He had a plan in all of this in that Ruth would marry Boaz and they would have a baby and they would be in the line that would bring the Messiah into the world.  Dr. Wiersbe writes, “God’s providential working in our lives is both a delight and a mystery.  God is constantly working with us (Mark 16:20), in us (Phil. 2:12-13), and for us (Rom. 8:28) and accomplishing His gracious purposes.  We pray, we seek His will, and make decisions (and sometimes make mistakes); but it is God who orders events and guides His willing children.” 

            I wish to make one more point from this chapter and it comes from James 2:20b which says, “Faith without works is useless.”  Ruth believed that God would provide for her and also for Naomi and so she went out to work in the field to gleam grain so that they would have something to eat.  Ruth put her faith into action and went out and worked.  Ephesians 2:10 also seems to be good to look at in the context of this section of Ruth:  “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”  Now I realize that Ruth was on the other side of the cross, but she was doing the work that God had prepared for her to do before she was even born and because of that work that she was doing I am able to write these things that I am writing today because of her being in the bloodline of Jesus Christ who came to earth to provide salvation for the likes of me.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  When I look at this wonderful story of Ruth I also see Naomi and her family who were very much involved in all of this and they made some mistakes in their lives which God turned out for good for not only her but also for Ruth and as expressed above even me.  I have made mistakes in the handling of our retirement funds that has caused a great many problems in the lives of Sandy and of me, and yet I have sought the Lord to show me the sin in my life over this and have confessed all that He has reveled to me.  God changed my heart over this and has been so very faithful in providing for us even though the retirement fund has been gone for seven years, and hopes of ever getting it back lie in the hands of the Lord, yet He if faithful.  I do not wish to make any more mistakes like this in order to see the providence of God working in my life, but I want to live my life in a godly manner trusting the Lord to bring about what He desires to bring about in my life in order to make me more like the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1. Continue to trust the Lord to bring about His will in my life.

 

3/17/2010 9:21 AM