3:5-18 Risk and Reward Ruth faced potential rejection when she followed Naomi’s instructions to ask Boaz to claim his right as their family redeemer. He could have shamed Ruth, but he responded with appreciation for her loyalty to family tradition. If you’ve experienced loss, heartache, or rejection as Ruth did, you may find it hard to trust people. God sees your desperation and loneliness. While he promises that he himself will be a husband to the husbandless (Isa 54:4-5), he often fulfills our deepest desires through a fellow human being. When God speaks, don’t be afraid to take a risk.
3:10-13 Caring for Family Instead of turning his back on Naomi and Ruth’s plight, Boaz did all he could to alleviate the suffering of his widowed relatives. When God shows us a need in someone’s life, we too can reach out with practical and spiritual support. It sounds easy enough, but in reality, it can be harder when that person is a member of our own family. Despite any difficulties we face in caring for our families, we must remember Paul’s words to Timothy: “Those who won’t care for their relatives, especially those in their own household, have denied the true faith. Such people are worse than unbelievers” (1 Tim 5:8).