Gentle reader,

Today we want to consider one of my favorite verses (or at least part of one) it is Ruth 1:1 Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehemjudah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.(Rth 1:1)

I like to say when I am not up to my ears in a swamp full of alligators "Now it came to pass..." it didn’t come to stay! Priceless gems have often been found blooming is a rocky crevice. Rainbow artisties have suddenly lit up the drabbest sky. Beauty spots have charmed the traveller at surprise turns on a least-promising road. It is so with this superbly beautiful book of Ruth.

Never measure the value of a book by its bulk. The background is revealed in the opening words, "Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled". That places the story in that period of the history of the Hebrew people. The events chronicled transpired in a troublous, stormy and difficult times; in the midst of religious apostasy, political disorganization and social chaos. Remember that God had promised to bless the Hebrew children in the land and yet our first occasion finds that there is a famine. And the husband wife and the two boys left the promised land and go into the land of Moab.

What we have here is a love story and the secrets of Saintship; God is the sufficiency of trusting souls. The second point we might consider is that trusting souls are the instruments of God.

A saint simply is a person separated to the will of God. Ruth and Boaz lived a life of Saintship in circumstances of the utmost difficulty, finding their sufficiency for such a life in God.

Ruth, a Moabitess, of an accursed race, who according to the law of Moses was not allowed to enter the congregation of the covenant. How would people perceive her, how would she be looked at, how would she herself, as she came in contact with the religion of the Hebrew people, would realize the greatness of her distance. She returned with her mother-in-law, Naomi to a land of poverty out of love. And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God Rth 1:16).

Thus the saintship of Ruth was in spit of difficulties, and flourished amid circumstances calculated to discourage her.

Boaz lived amid people of privilege in times of degeneracy. Perhaps there are no circumstances in which it is harder to live the life of a saint. It is today easier to live a godly life in the midst of worldly men and women, that to live in the midst of worldly Christians. Boaz was a man of wealth and power. That condition is always perilous to the life of faith.

There were legal difficulties for Boaz, a nearer kinsman had first right of refusal before Boaz could claim Ruth. How easy it would have been for him to sacrifice the principle of loyalty in order to win.

So both Ruth the Moabitess, and Boaz the man of Judah were saints, in spite of difficulties peculiar to each. The secret of sainthood we wish to point out are three fold. For Ruth the sufficiency of God were manifest by First, Ruth was a woman of an open mind willing to receive the teaching of Naomi. Secondly, she was a woman who at a crisis made her own choice against all the prejudices of her nationality, against the persuasion of Naomi, to whom she owed the very light of her faith; separation herself of her own free will from Moab, and transferring herself to Judah and to Jehovah. Finally she was persistently, patiently, and definitely loyal to her choice.

To this woman of an open mind God revealed Himself and she answered in obedient faith. And lived a life of a saint, full of beauty.

Boaz also we might note three things. First, his loyalty to God in the midst of difficulties. A man true in the midst of men of untruth; a man of faith in an age of faithlessness. Secondly, he was a man who made application of his relationship to God in he relation to his fellow men. Finally, he was a man of caution and courage. The two things are never far apart. Caution is the very soul of courage. And courage is the true expression of caution.

Now gentle reader, see the footsteps of Almighty God. Boaz, the Hebrew, and Ruth the Mobitess in union Hebrew and gentile become the highway for God toward the ultimate realization of His purpose.

Three principles we once again point out. First, circumstances neither make or mar saints. Second the principle of victory is faith [F. A. I. T.H.- Forsaking all I take Him] Finally, we see that what God values is a life that makes the great surrender, and follows Him in faith.

Note once again the closing of this little book "And Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed, And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David." (Rth 4:21-22)

Gentle reader, you may not see great things but God has called us all to be faithful, not successful as man measures success. Your part is part of HIS. Gentle reader, we are called to be SAINTS let’s not miss the opportunity.

Love,

Denis