Ruth 2:12 (NIV) "May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”

The story of Ruth in the Book of Ruth is a wonderful story of God's redeeming grace. She, a Moabite woman, had married one of Naomi's sons when Elimelek and Naomi moved to Moab to escape a famine in Israel. After a few years, Ruth's husband died. Naomi, her mother-in-law, also experienced the death of her husband as well and the death of another son. After these bitter happenings, Naomi decided to move back to Israel. After having traveled a short distance, she told both of her widowed daughters-in-law to go back to their country so that they would be able to find new husbands and start a new life. The other woman went back but Ruth refused to leave Naomi, not thinking about herself but instead wanting to look after her. She said something to Naomi when Naomi was trying to convince her to go back to Moab that would change the trajectory and lineage of her life forever. She told her that Naomi's God would be her God (Ruth 1:16). The minute she made that decision, her future was blessed and secure, even if she didn't know it at the time.

After she and Naomi arrived at Bethlehem, Ruth went out to find food for herself and Naomi by following behind the harvesters who were harvesting grain (there was a law in Israel allowing this so that poor people would have food to feed themselves.). As it turned out, the field that she "randomly" chose happened to belong to a man that was not only a relative of Naomi, but who was also one of the family's guardian-redeemers. A guardian-redeemer was a person in the family that was charged with helping any family member who was facing hardship or misfortune. The man's name was Boaz and he was the one who uttered the words of the scripture above. He had heard about Ruth's sacrifice for her mother-in-law and was very impressed by her. He wound up redeeming the family by purchasing Naomi's property (which she could not afford) and by marrying Ruth, so that Naomi's family line would continue. The Lord redeemed this Moabite woman and made her one of His own, even including her in the lineage of Jesus through her marriage to Boaz. Boaz and Ruth wound up having a son named Obed, who had a son named Jesse, who had a son named David and so on, until the birth of Jesus.

What an awesome story, but what made Ruth so blessed and successful? It was the fact that she made God her God and sought refuge under His wings. She chose to look past her circumstances and to even look past her own best interests and instead to look after someone else. She chose to honor God, whom she didn't know before she met Naomi and her son. By doing so and by putting her trust in the God that she took as her own, the Lord blessed her beyond her wildest imaginations and made her name famous for all of time. He planned to use her story to bless countless numbers of people like you and me through the Book of Ruth. It's a story of God's grace and faithfulness when you trust Him and come under His care. It the best and safest place to make your dwelling. Find refuge under your Heavenly Father's wings and you, too, will be blessed and cared for until you are safe with Him in heaven for all eternity.

Pastor Joey Vazquez