Safety Zone

SAFETY ZONE
Ruth 2:1-12
V. 10: “At this she [Ruth] bowed down with her face to the ground. She exclaimed, ‘Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?’”

“What, you guys will really be my ‘big brothers’ at school?” Marshall asked Timmy and Greg. (See For God-Blesses Me devotion).

“Sure, why not?” Greg shrugged his shoulders. “You proved that you’re a good person, showing us different ways to go off the high diving board. You may still need some protection—being a Mexican, and all.”

“Wait till I get you two to dive of the high board!”

“That’ll be the day!” Timmy said.

“Does doing the pike hurt you?”

Both Greg and Timmy shook their heads, “No.”

“Well that’s the first part. All it takes from there is to straighten your legs up, and your hands down, over your head.”

Despite having fun together now, Greg and Timmy may not have given Marshall a second glance—if Greg hadn’t noticed his sparkling blue eyes. (See Garlic and Diamonds devotion). First impressions are powerful. They can either win you potential friends, or repulse people. It’s rare when someone is offered a second chance after making a poor first impression.

Ruth needed to make a good first impression with Boaz. He owned the very field from which she was gleaming (GLEEM-ing, meaning picking up) leftover grain. This barley grain is what she and her mother-in-law, Naomi, would eat (Ruth 2:3). She impressed the foreman of the harvesters. He noticed how hard she worked, with only one short break, verse 6. Boaz took it from there. He introduced himself, offered her a place of picking after the girls, protection from the men, and water, whenever she got thirsty, verses 8-10.

If Ruth hadn’t impressed the foreman, who first noticed her, she likely would have been forbidden to pick grain from that field. (Naomi knew that Boaz was a relative of both her and Ruth’s dead husbands, so this was a lucky break for Ruth.)

In those days, when a woman became a widow (WID-o, meaning her husband had died), his family owed her security. A relative would give her opportunity to carry on her husband’s name.

Take Home Nugget

This family member was called a “kinsman redeemer,” a relative who preserves the widow’s honor. He would marry the woman and give her his home. Boaz married Ruth, and provided for both she and Naomi for the rest of their days. Our ultimate refuge is in the Lord, Himself (Psalm 46:1). Yet God wants to use His children to provide a “safety zone” for others.

Marshall suggested to Greg and Timmy, “We could do the pike off the low diving board, at first.”

True love demonstrates love in action.

J.D. Griffith

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