God blesses Faithful Obedience
All summer long, we’ve been learning about the beautiful journey we go on as we become followers of Jesus. We’ve learned so much about how when we accept Jesus as our Savior, many changes begin to happen in our lives. We become transformed as God the Father prunes sin out of our lives so we can grow to become more like His perfect Son Jesus. On the journey, we leave behind our old selves and become new as we bear the fruits of the Spirit.
Many of you may be familiar with the fruits of the Spirit; these fruits are present in our lives as God the Spirit changes us on our journey with Him. Only when we make Jesus our Savior are we sealed with the Holy Spirit and begin to bear these fruits. Let’s check them out again...
Galatians 5:22-23a “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”
When the Holy Spirit begins to produce these fruits in our lives, people begin to notice! Today we’re focusing on the fruit of faithfulness by looking at a very faithful woman in the Old Testament by the name of Ruth.
Ruth was a woman from Moab who married a man from Bethlehem named Mahlon. Mahlon’s mother was Naomi and his father was Elimelech, making Naomi Ruth’s mother-in-law and Elimelech her father-in-law. Naomi had another daughter-in-law named Orpah. Orpah and Ruth were both married to Naomi’s two sons but tragedy strikes and the men pass away, disconnecting Ruth and Orpah from the family line. There was a famine that struck the land and Naomi’s husband Elimelech died as well, leading Naomi to want to move back with her daughters-in-law to her home in Bethlehem. In her sadness, Naomi tells Orpah and Ruth it would be better for them to find a new life on their own as she has been left with nothing (Ruth 1:8-13). Orpah kisses her mother-in-law goodbye, but verse 14 tells us Ruth clung to her.
This action surprised Naomi because before Ruth married into Naomi’s family, she did not worship the One True God as Naomi did. But God had clearly transformed her when we see why she wouldn’t leave Naomi’s side. Naomi actually encourages Ruth to go back to her other gods but Ruth's response shows her remarkable faith...
Ruth 1:16-17 “But Ruth replied, ‘Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!”.
Despite experiencing hardships and being a widow herself, Ruth is determined and moved by God to remain loyal to her widowed mother-in-law Naomi no matter the cost, even until death. Ruth has already endured so much loss but she decides to be faithful to God and protect Naomi the best she can for the time being.
Naomi had lost her own husband and both sons which left her feeling overburdened, overwhelmed, and without any family to help. She then decided to change her name to Mara (1:20). The name Naomi means “pleasant” but Mara translates to “bitter”. Through Naomi’s grieving and bitterness toward God, Ruth stayed by her side as a light in the darkness, loyally helping Naomi bear her burdens. The two women arrive in Bethlehem in late spring, just in time for the barley harvest (1:22).
Without anyone to care for these two widowed women, Ruth decides that God will provide for them. She goes out to work the fields finding any leftovers she can from the harvest (2:2). Even when it seems as though they have been left with no help, Ruth remains faithful to God.
Because of her faithfulness, we see later in the story that God placed Ruth in the exact field she needed to be in. She meets a wealthy man named Boaz who notices Ruth’s hard work out in the fields even for leftovers. God then uses Boaz to bless Ruth and Naomi in far greater ways than either of them imagined! Boaz kept Ruth safe in the fields, gave her water to drink, and so much barley to eat that she and Naomi had leftovers themselves. From just a short glimpse into Ruth’s life, we see how her faithfulness and obedience to God’s calling brought great blessings.
We can already see God using Ruth’s and Naomi’s trials for good. Faithfulness to God brings beautiful blessings to those who are willing to go God’s way instead of their own, even in times when it seems like all hope is lost. David (who is actually Ruth's great-great-grandson) writes about this goodness for God’s followers years later...
Psalms 31:19 “How great is the goodness you have stored up for those who fear you. You lavish it on those who come to you for protection, blessing them before the watching world.”
Ruth’s faithfulness resulted in abundant blessings which we’ll look at more throughout this week; some of which we still see today as God’s goodness stands firm forever for those who put their faith in Him.
Questions:
Does your life show fruits of the Spirit? If not, why is that?
Do people know you for your faith in God? If yes, how do you know?
What does it mean to bear someone's burden?
As the church is one body, we’re all called to bear one another’s burdens and
help each other through hard times. Have you ever helped encourage someone’s
faith?
Has someone ever encouraged you in your faith? How did that impact you?