Loyalty and Faithful Service

May 12

Ruth 1-2

Psalm 59:1-5

Proverbs 13:13-14

John 2

Loyalty and Faithful Service

“But Ruth said, ‘Do not press me to forsake you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge.  Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.  Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may Yahweh do to me, and more, if anything but death separates you and me.’”  Ruth 1:16-17 LSB

This passage is often read at weddings because it gives us the perfect example of loyalty, dedication, and commitment.  Ruth forsook everything else to follow Naomi.  She pledged to remain at her side as long as she lived.  This should be our model in marriage relationships, family relationships, and friendships.  This is a picture of sacrificial love.  Ruth decided to leave her community, her family and her religion and follow Naomi and her God.  She was not only following Naomi out of loyalty, but she was also making a conscious choice to turn away from the gods of her land and to embrace the Hebrew God.  This was Ruth’s “profession of faith.” 

Chapter 2 describes Ruth’s faithful service.  Ruth knew that Naomi was too old to work to provide for them, so she went out to look for work as a gleaner.  Mosaic law instructed the Israelites to allow the poor, widows and the fatherless to pick the grain on the edges of the fields.  After the workers harvested the field, they could go and “glean” what was left.  (Leviticus 19:9-10)  Everyone in town knew about Ruth, the young Moabitess who was faithfully caring for her mother-in-law.  She was humble and grateful for the opportunity to serve.  In Ruth 2:5-7, the workers told Boaz that Ruth had been working hard all day with only a short rest.  They seemed impressed with her faithfulness.   She had a humble and grateful heart.  Boaz saw her hard work and her dedication to Naomi and he respected her.  He not only allowed her to glean in the field, but he also instructed the men to leave extra for her to glean.  He provided more than abundantly for her and he did it in a way that protected her dignity.  Boaz also told the young men not to touch her.  This suggests that it would have been common for the men to try to take advantage of her.  They knew she was a widow and had no man to protect her.  Boaz generously gave her provision and protection.  When she left home that first morning to find work, she could not possibly have imagined how things would turn out.  She must have been scared and anxious and yet she did what she had to do.  She did the next right thing.  She had no idea what the future held and yet she just persevered faithfully.  Ruth had a very difficult life.  She was widowed at a young age and left with no means of support.  Instead of returning to her family, she chose to stay with her mother-in-law, Naomi.  God rewarded her faithfulness by allowing her to have the honor of being the great-grandmother of King David and in the line of Jesus, the Messiah.   When we are facing times of difficulty and we have no idea what the future holds we just need to persevere and do the next right thing.  Loyalty and faithful service do not go unnoticed by God.