Quite the Bargain!

Ruth 2:19-23

When I was a teenager, we went across the state to a church meeting with a youth group, as well as, some of the older members of the church. We stopped at a Walmart to get some drinks and other supplies. While there, one of us decided to get a Sam's Choice soda instead of a name brand soda. That person put their $0.50 in the machine and out came a drink, along with .25 change. The person put the other quarter back in on a whim and received another drink for a quarter. Suddenly everyone in our groups was content with Sam's Choice drinks. We were using every quarter we could find. Even one of our elderly ladies was digging through her purse trying to find quarters. It was funny. In the end, we filled a cooler with the bargain drinks.

---

And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where have you gleaned today? And where did you work? Blessed be the one who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.” 20 Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed be he of the LORD, who has not forsaken His kindness to the living and the dead!” And Naomi said to her, “This man is a relation of ours, one of our close relatives.” 21 Ruth the Moabitess said, “He also said to me, ‘You shall stay close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’ ” 22 And Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, and that people do not meet you in any other field.” 23 So she stayed close by the young women of Boaz, to glean until the end of barley harvest and wheat harvest; and she dwelt with her mother-in-law.

Ruth 2:19–23

---

When Ruth arrived home, Naomi looked at her bundle of grain and was shocked. She knew Ruth was a hard worker, but this was far more than a person could gather in a single day from gleaning. If Naomi had been from the south, her conversation might have sounded like this: "Oh dear! Where in the world did you work today? Tell me the fellow's name. Bless him!" Naomi knew that someone had shown great kindness to them. Ruth responds by saying, "The guy’s name was Boaz and mom.… he told me not to go to anyone else's fields to glean. He told me to work with his maidservants and to stay close to the men. He said they would look out for me. He seemed really nice. What should I do?"

Naomi's response reveals her recognition that God is working in the situation. She says, "Blessed be he of the LORD." Naomi realized that God had blessed them through Boaz. They had food. Remember that scarcity of food was why they had left Bethlehem at the beginning of the story. As widows, they expected to scrape by with just enough to survive. Instead, God had blessed them with an abundance of food.

Naomi tells Ruth to do as Boaz as said. Why not? If he had been so generous to them after just one day of work, how much would he do over the entire harvest season? Naomi also recognized the name Boaz. She knew him to be a relative. In Hebrew culture, relatives were to look out for other relatives in need. She knew this was a safe place to be. Also, it is quite likely that the wheels had already begun turning in her head...but we will get to that later.

I like the contrast in Naomi from chapter 1 to chapter 2. In chapter 1, she is grieving and feels abandoned by God. She tells the people to call her "Mara" or "bitter". Now, in chapter two she feels blessed by God and she is excited. Naomi wears her heart on her sleeve. Ruth on the other hand, she is a steadfast friend to Naomi through it all. Remember, that is what her name means, "friendship". Proverbs 18:24 says, "...there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." That friend was Ruth to Naomi.

God thank You for friends who stick by us through in the good and the bad times. We thank You that you are that kind of friend to us. You have promised that You would never leave us nor forsake us. Teach us to be faithful and obedient like that to You and others as well.