“There was a relative of Naomi’s husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz. So Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, ‘Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor.’” (Ruth 2:1, 2).

•Boaz described.

Verse 1 tells us of how Naomi had a kinsman, a mighty man of wealth, and his name was Boaz.

When Ruth learned this fact, she said to Naomi, “Let me go . . . after him in whose sight I may find favor [grace].”

Redemption brings us into a new relationship and a new fellowship with One who is Almighty. He who follows with God also follows with One who is the possessor of all things - the cattle on a thousand hills, the silver and the gold belong to Him. After such a One we do well to glean.

•. Giving homage.

“So she fell on her face, bowed down to the ground, and said to him, ‘Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?’” (2:10). Here is a verse that describes Ruth falling upon her face, and bowing herself to the ground before Boaz.

How wonderfully does the grace of God appear upon the scene! Ruth did not boast her own merit. She did not claim any right to the bounties of Boaz. She accepted every favor from him upon the basis of grace.

And so we must come to God. We have nothing by way of merit and of worth to bring. We come, pleading ourselves a sinner and a stranger.

If we receive anything of God, we acknowledge that it is unmerited upon our part - “by grace we have been saved” (Ephesians 2:8).

•. The full reward.

To Ruth, Boaz replied: “‘The Lord repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge’” (v. 12).

Ruth recognized nothing in herself. Boaz, however, looked beyond her poverty and penury and he saw and recognized the wonderful faith in God which she had exercised when she left her father and her mother, and the land of her nativity, and came unto a people of whom she knew nothing.

Guard your heart. Teach your children. Watch and pray.