Obviously, Ruth knew the benefits she had and she was overwhelmed with the generosity of Boaz.

10 Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground and said to him, "Why have I found favor in your sight that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?"

Foreigner means alien.

Picture: Unregenerate individuals are part of Satan's family:

From the moment of regeneration, redeemed individuals are a part of God's family:

Boaz responds:

11 Boaz answered and said to her, "All that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband has been fully reported to me, and how you left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and came to a people that you did not previously know."

12 "May the Lord reward your work, and your wages be full from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge."

Consider the phrase—

Were Ruth's wages full from the Lord because she worked? No! He said—

What was that work?

Application: Why do we turn to Messiah Jesus? For:

• Redemption (salvation)
• Life
• Refuge in Him [not for presenting good works to Him]

By being under the wings of Messiah, God will reward us — just for being there. Yes, that is how we get paid — by staying in Messiah's field and being a reaper.

Remember: The individual's motive is of zero importance as long as he is in Messiah's field.

And that is not the most amazing thing…

14 At mealtime Boaz said to her, "Come here, that you may eat of the bread and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar." So she sat beside the reapers; and he served her roasted grain and she ate and was satisfied and had some left.

Ruth sat beside the reapers and Boaz fed her roasted (not raw out-of-the-field) grain, which she ate until she was satisfied. Boaz was seeking Ruth's favor!

A Picture Of: Messiah Jesus seeking the favor of the redeemed.

15 When she rose to glean, Boaz commanded his servants, saying, "Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not insult her."

16 "Also you shall purposely pull out for her some grain from the bundles and leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her."

Ruth did not even have to reap, because Boaz told the reapers to purposely drop the best grains out of their bags Drop the grain for her!

Picture: Ruth did not have to work; she just had to bend over and pick up the [best] grain, because she was under the wings of the Lord God of Israel.

Application: The motivation of the redeemed should not be to try to please the Lord God with good works, but to go to Messiah for refuge — under His wings. Again, it is back to that motive where individuals often miss the mark.

Think of what Boaz has done for Ruth. At this point, he has gotten to know her, he thinks she is attractive, he moves her to a position of reaper, and he says Come eat and drink with us, and take the best grain; now you are one of us!

Why was Boaz showering Ruth with all of these blessings? Unlike the beginning when Ruth was trying to get Boaz's favor, now Boaz is seeking Ruth's favor. Yes, Boaz was generous as shown by his generosity to all of the gleaners in the field. However, Boaz was purposely showering blessing on Ruth to seek her favor.

An Amazing Picture: Boaz is a picture of Messiah Jesus, and Ruth is a picture of redeemed individuals. What is this saying?

Notice: The tendency of many of us is to have this backward and to believe that the redeemed should try to seek the favor of Messiah. Wrong thinking!

Instead of the believer being convinced by the flesh to be satisfied with Let us read the Bible and pray, You had better do these things [and not change very much], what would happen if the individual really understood:

The flesh is never going to say Let us not pursue Messiah Jesus, because it (the flesh) would be found out. Additionally, the flesh never wants a believer to know that [in the flesh] a believer is against God. So the flesh is not going to press obviously horrible things. Instead, it is looking for specific things to do, and it will tell a believer to be religious so that he will not be wise to the flesh.

We want our lives changed by Renewing Our Minds. Part of our mind is saying—

If the redeemed really get it into their minds that He is seeking their favor, then as they read the Bible, it will not be a result of the flesh; it will be a result of knowing—

Another problem believers have is that they always think there has to be some daily application. In fact, if their minds are thinking right, then the application is the same. But believers want to make it happen, and actually, they are short-circuiting the processes by trying to change their own behavior.

Individuals like Elijah and Abraham did not wake up in the morning and say What do I need to do today? Their thinking was changed, and what came out was right. And when their thinking was wrong, they blew it (ruin by mistake).

Believers are told to read the Bible and learn to do new things to do. My response is—

• Who wants more new things to do?
• Who really wants to read the Bible if that is something you have to do?

If a believer thinks the Lord God is going to whack him based on what he does according to the to do list, then that believer will respond out of fear If I love Him, I will do the following… That is not what Love is about.

What you call Messiah Jesus seeking your favor describes Eros Love, a word that appears nowhere in the Bible but succinctly describes Messiah seeking the favor of His own.

We have a dim picture of it in romantic love. Though His love is much higher than that, it is along those same lines. That is why He is seeking our love back.

Think of an arranged marriage where the husband wants the [actual] love to be there. Consider how the wife would feel if she knew the number one priority of her husband was to seek her favor. His wife's relationship with him would be totally different.

Application: That is the way the redeemed would respond if they really understood that Messiah's number one priority is to seek their favor.

Think about something in very human terms; lay aside the fact that Messiah Jesus is divine for a moment. Think of Him as just another person who seeks your favor.

Messiah Jesus seeks you out, becomes acquainted with you, likes what He sees and hears, and then He pursues you by seeking your favor. Whatever it meant for Boaz to seek the favor of Ruth is what it means for Messiah Jesus to seek your favor.

A believer wants to have the thought:

However, the flesh will always rear its head and try to coax the individual to ask God Where are You? And then, to suppress that question, the flesh is always ready with a quick [and incorrect] response God is in the Bible. The flesh wants us to ask that question to God; there is never a time when the flesh wants the believer to say to the Lord God Here I am!

Know that Messiah is looking for the believer; therefore, they do not have to go looking for Him.

Even when you meditate, think on Here I am and Messiah Jesus is seeking my favor!

Samuel responded to the One who spoke to him [not knowing it was the Lord God] with Here I am! Eli realized the Lord was speaking to Samuel, and he instructed Samuel to respond Speak Lord, for Your servant is listening!

We would want our response to the Lord should be like Samuel's Here I am! Speak Lord, for Your servant is listening!

The levels of understanding the relationship between Messiah Jesus and the redeemed tends to be as follows:

Ruth returned to Naomi with bushels of wonderful grains. Naomi recognized the quality and amount of grain was not from gleaning with the reapers.

19 Her mother-in-law then said to her, "Where did you glean today and where did you work? May he who took notice of you be blessed."

Then Ruth tells Naomi that the grain came from Boaz.

20 Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, "May he be blessed of the Lord who has not withdrawn his kindness to the living and to the dead." Again Naomi said to her, "The man is our relative, he is one of our closest relatives."

Naomi recognized the name and basically, she tells Ruth Oh, I know him. He is our relative!

Father, thank You for giving us the book of Ruth. This love letter presents us with such a wonderful picture of Your Son, Messiah Jesus, showing us that He is infinite, strong, and yet, sympathetic; He approaches His own and He is our Redeemer, Provider and Sustainer. How magnificent He is!

Thank You for not choosing Your children on the basis of merit or of a particular beauty. Instead, You have focused Your entire attention on each one of us. And then You came to us, drew us to Yourself, regenerated us, and redeemed us — all because You love us! Indeed Your children are the recipients of Your love in action!

Father, thank You for moving us from the place of gleaner to the place of reaper. No longer must we rely on the leftovers from the world, because we know that we have tangible benefits from reaping in Your field. Please help us to not leave, not to go somewhere else to have our needs met. Finally, would You show us the full harvest You have provided for us, which the world knows nothing about.

Please show us Your presence so, like the apostle Paul, we will have a thorough understanding that our spirits are in heaven where we worship You. And we thank You that Your voice speaks to us daily so that we may live in a constant relationship with You, the living God.

Father, how blessed I am to be loved by You and to love You. Thank You for making my life successful in You through Your Holy Spirit. Help me to activate Holy Spirit so You reign in my life daily. The freedom You give me from the bondage of my flesh through complicated religion is fantastic!

May You, the Lord my God, be near to those who have not yet been regenerated, but are already begin drawn to You by the power of Messiah Jesus through Your Holy Spirit.

In Messiah's precious name we pray. Amen.

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