Today we read of Naomi’s shrewdness, Boaz’s decency, Ruth’s willingness to follow her mother in law’s advice and the love that came from all of that.
Boaz does things properly – marrying Ruth but only when the right of another is first dealt with.
Again, God is in the background in a story that tells of human loss, love, need and new beginnings.
Only at the end is the whole story put into a bigger context. It’s only when we have the happy resolution of the story of Ruth and Boaz that it’s mentioned, almost in passing, that Ruth and Boaz would have a great grandson called David…
They would have no idea in life of what was ahead of their family. Nor do we usually have much idea of how the stories in which we play our part will continue after we have left the stage. But perhaps from the book of Ruth we can be reminded that when we live our lives with love and faithfulness, then God is in our actions and in their consequences down the generations. No good is wasted.
Nick Watson 