Blessable

Ruth 2:11 – 12 “Boaz replied, ‘I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband – how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”

Do you want God’s blessings? It’s a silly question, really. Of course you do, and so do I. We all want to live in God’s favor, to experience His good gifts, and to be rewarded for our good deeds. And we can certainly have all of that, but there is a catch.

If we want to be blessed, we have to be blessable.

Casts a new light on the whole blessings idea, doesn’t it? Now, don’t get me wrong. God is so good, so loving that He pours out blessings on everyone. Everyone. We all have air to breathe, sunshine, moonlight. We all get to experience the laughter of children – just take a walk in the park! We all are blessed. But God does have a way of sending extra-special concentrations of blessings on those with whom He is pleased.

All too often, we want to live our lives exactly as we choose, without a thought to what would please our Heavenly Father. Oh, we may go to church now and then. We may even cast a few pennies or dollars in the collection plate from time to time. Or, to appease our misplaced guilt, we may make a single grand gesture, such as giving half of our Christmas bonus to an orphanage in a third world country. These are all good things, but they don’t exactly make us blessable. They don’t exactly put us in right standing with God.

What God wants more than anything from us is consistency. He wants to see that, over the long haul, we are committed to Him. He wants us to make the little choices, day after day after day, to live for Him. He wants to see that we will serve Him in good times, in bad times, in mediocre times. He wants us to be consistent.

Ruth had consistency. She had made the choice to forsake her idols, to leave her family, and to serve God. She had made the decision to stand by her mother-in-law, and she had not wavered from that decision. Each of her actions, big and small, gave testimony to her commitment, her love, her dedication to Naomi and to God. Boaz saw the same thing that everyone else saw, the same thing that God saw. Boaz asked God to bless this woman, and God did. And He will do the same for each person who consistently lives for Him. He will bless and bless those who make themselves blessable.

Dear Father, Please help me to show consistency in my choices, as I seek to live for You.

Amen