SURPRISED BY GRACE

Then Boaz said to Ruth, ‘Have you not heard, my daughter. Do not go to glean in another field; furthermore, do not go on from this one, but stay here with my young women.’ Ruth 2:8

The relationship between Ruth and Boaz oozes with grace. Boaz is the gracious giver and Ruth the grateful recipient. Consider this…

Ruth was not entitled to any good treatment. She was an outsider, a foreigner, a former idolater, a destitute widow, and unable to contribute anything to the business of her new employer, Boaz. Despite this, he still graced her by allowing her to glean in his field. Grace offers a new and better future.

In this culture men and women were not permitted to speak to each other, and certainly speaking to a foreign woman would have been totally unacceptable. But after investigating who she was, it is Boaz who initiates the conversation with Ruth. Grace always takes the initiative by making the first move. “We love, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

When shown grace, Ruth’s first word is “why” (v. 10). This is the natural response from a heart that is overwhelmed with gratitude. Grace surprises us with provision and protection.

Years later, grace was once again poured out on the hills near Bethlehem when Jesus laid down His life. “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Have you accepted this free gift?

Philip Moeller