Months after suffering a miscarriage, Valerie decided to sell her baby things at a car boot sale. Gerald, a carpenter who lived a few miles away, eagerly bought the wooden cot she was selling. While there, his wife talked with Valerie and learned about her loss. After hearing of her situation on the way home, Gerald decided to use the cot to craft a keepsake for Valerie. A week later, he tearfully presented her with a beautiful bench. “There are good people out there, and here’s proof,” Valerie said.
Like Valerie, Ruth and Naomi suffered great loss. Naomi’s husband and two sons had died. And now she and her bereft daughter-in-law Ruth had no heirs and no one to provide for them (Ruth 1:1–5). That’s where Boaz stepped in. When Ruth went to a field to pick up leftover grain, Boaz—the owner—asked about her. When he learned who she was, he was kind to her (2:5–9). Amazed, Ruth asked, “Why have I found such favour in your eyes?” (v. 10 ). He replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband” (v. 11).
Boaz later married Ruth and provided for Naomi (ch. 4). Through their marriage, a forefather of David—and of Jesus—was born. Just as God used Gerald and Boaz to help transform the grief of another, He can work through us to show kindness and empathy to others in pain.
By Alyson Kieda
REFLECT & PRAY
When have you been the giver or recipient of an act of kindness? What was the result?
Dear God, thank You for sending Your Son to redeem me, the greatest kindness of all.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Ruth’s story shows the beauty of God’s redemption. He redeems us through Jesus, Ruth’s descendant (Matthew 1:5). But don’t miss Ruth’s embarrassing ancestry. Her people of Moab descended from Lot, who fathered children with his own daughters (Genesis 19:30–38). Boaz also comes from dubious origins. His mother was Rahab (Matthew 1:5), a Canaanite prostitute (Joshua 2:1; 6:17, 25). Both Ruth and Rahab ( Hebrews 11:31) chose to identify with the one true God. Ruth told her mother-in-law, “Your people will be my people and your God my God” (Ruth 1:16). Our origins and history don’t matter. It’s our identity in Christ that counts.
Tim Gustafson
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