Today’s Reading, Ruth 1-4
Focal Scripture: Ruth 2:12 “May the Lord reward you for what you have done, and may you receive a full reward from the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.””
People pay attention to how we live. They look to see what type of character we have in different situations. We all do this when we are around people. Reputation truly does proceed a person in life. This can be a positive truth or it can be a negative truth. This is why the Bible discusses the character of people so much who are in leadership. This is why our responses to situations reveal our hearts.
In today’s reading we look into the life of Ruth. She is a woman of noble character. She looks after her mother in law. Is passionate about doing right by her. Her story was known by everyone in the town. When people talked about her they talked about how she treated others well. It even impressed Boaz. He was so impressed he wanted her to know that he hoped God rewarded her for her actions.
For us as believers we need to be aware that people watch how we live. We also need to be aware that when we live right God and others take notice. We are often so focused on getting accolades that we forget that doing right matters more. We serve and love because we are expected to, not to get noticed.
However, we need to be aware that God notices. Several times in this book it is mentioned how character plays an important role in God blessing others. The challenge for us today is to ask ourselves what type of character we have and would it honor God. For this to happen we can’t do just enough to get by, we must serve in such a way that others speak well about us and our God.
We may not get a reward in this Earth but we know that God will reward his people in the end. It is more important to have a good reputation than to be popular. Remember this truth when you search out friends, spouses and leaders.
Tomorrow, I plan on reading 1 Samuel 1-3
