Like Ruth, Reaching out to Reap.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17

For of Him and through Him and to Him, are all things… Rom 11:36 Rom 11:36

Nothing touches our lives but it is God Himself speaking. Do we discern His Hand or only mere occurrence? (Oswald Chambers)

Elimelech thought he was taking his wife and sons to a place where they would have better opportunities for survival and prosperity. He did not expect to lose his own life or that his sons would not survive for long after him. He could not have known that his death was a part of a saga of redemption for his family, and that his wife would become an ancestor of the Messiah.

When the eyes of Boaz were drawn to the young woman gleaning in his fields, he was not to know that he was looking at his future wife

Naomi, for all her wealth of wisdom through experience, was not aware of the repercussions awaiting her daughter-in-law Ruth, when she encouraged her to lie down at Boaz’ feet.

Full life in Christ was pictured in Ruth’s marriage to Boaz. No longer gleaning, but reaping, in abundance. An example of gleaning is a devotional reading, which is insight given to someone else, and which is available to the reader in order for his or her knowledge and understanding to grow. When we reap for ourselves, we understand from the Word of God a message He wants to impart, and we gain the strength of the Word. The Husbandman reaps the crops from what He has sown; we eat at His table, and the Word is rich, chewable. We progress from the milk, which we receive in our early days, and progress to the meat of the Word, by which we grow spiritually.

Growth must be grounded in our Personal responsibility. A tender shoot is dependant on others for its growth, (discipleship) but as the roots settle, it pushes down to find sustenance! So must we accept personal responsibility for growth. We will not be reaching into dry ground, but are assured of the Living water, if we ask for it!

If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water. John 4:10

What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds. Can such faith save him? James 2:14.

Can we profess our faith without desiring to grow in it? Can we desire to grow in faith without commitment to our ongoing relationship with the One who feeds that faith? Can our faith grow without the gleaning from the Word? And then, once fed at the table of the Master, do we expect to be given only crumbs?

Ruth reached out expectantly in hope and trust, and received abundance from her kinsman-redeemer.

We too have a Kinsman-Redeemer, who invites us to eat at His table.