Ruth 3:1 – 6 “One day Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, ‘My daughter, should I not try to find a home for you, where you will be well provided for? Is not Boaz, with whose servant girls you have been, a kinsman of ours? Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. Wash and perfume yourself, and put on your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do.’ ‘I will do whatever you say,’ Ruth answered. So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law told her to do.”
Jewish laws and customs are unique and beautiful. Ruth, coming from a pagan background, had little hope of ever understanding Jewish ways. She had little hope of ever getting it right, without some help. But praise God! Naomi, who was Jewish by birth, was cheering for Ruth! She wanted Ruth to understand the Hebrew culture. She wanted to see her daughter-in-law find a husband who would love and care for her. So, she helped Ruth.
In this touching love story, Naomi paints a picture of the Holy Spirit. God’s ways are not our ways. They really make no sense to the common man. We have no hope of ever understanding the mind of God, of ever becoming like God, without a little help. But we do have help! We have the Holy Spirit, who makes Himself available to all who invite Him. And with His guidance, the things of God become clear!
There’s no getting around it. God’s ways can be difficult to grasp sometimes. We don’t understand the Holy God, because His ways are foreign to us. We are unholy and sinful by nature. If we want to become like God, we need some help. Just as Naomi helped Ruth, the Holy Spirit will help us. God’s Holy Spirit is cheering for us. He wants us to have a right relationship with God, and if we let Him, He will show us how. But, like Ruth, we must be willing to do what the Holy Spirit tells us.
Ruth could have said, “That’s ridiculous! You want me to do what?!? That makes no sense at all!” She could have scoffed at Naomi, and continued on her way. If she had, she would have forfeited the blessings of becoming Boaz’ wife. In the same way, God’s ways sometimes seem a little far-fetched. He wants us to be humble, He wants us to forgive, He wants us to live holy lives. The Holy Spirit helps us to understand God’s ways, but we must be willing to yield to His guidance. Like Ruth, we must say, “I will do whatever you say.”
1 Corinthians 2:11 – 14 “For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, for they are spiritually discerned.”
Dear Father, Thank You for Your Holy Spirit, who helps me to understand You. I will do whatever You say.
Amen
No comments yet.