SPRING FORTH NOW 2025

Sunday, March 23, 2025

It so happened that Naomi had a relative by marriage, a man prominent and rich, connected with Elimelech’s family. His name was Boaz.  One day Ruth, the Moabite foreigner, said to Naomi, “I’m going to work; I’m going out to glean among the sheaves, following after some harvester who will treat me kindly.”  Naomi said, “Go ahead, dear daughter.”  And so she set out. She went and started gleaning in a field, following in the wake of the harvesters. Eventually she ended up in the part of the field owned by Boaz, her father-in-law Elimelech’s relative. A little later Boaz came out from Bethlehem, greeting his harvesters, “God be with you!” They replied, “And God bless you!”  Boaz asked his young servant who was foreman over the farm hands, “Who is this young woman? Where did she come from?”  The foreman said, “Why, that’s the Moabite girl, the one who came with Naomi from the country of Moab. She asked permission. ‘Let me glean,’ she said, ‘and gather among the sheaves following after your harvesters.’ She’s been at it steady ever since, from early morning until now, without so much as a break.”  Then Boaz spoke to Ruth: “Listen, my daughter. From now on don’t go to any other field to glean—stay right here in this one. And stay close to my young women. Watch where they are harvesting and follow them. And don’t worry about a thing; I’ve given orders to my servants not to harass you. When you get thirsty, feel free to go and drink from the water buckets that the servants have filled.” She dropped to her knees, then bowed her face to the ground. “How does this happen that you should pick me out and treat me so kindly—me, a foreigner?”  Boaz answered her, “I’ve heard all about you—heard about the way you treated your mother-in-law after the death of her husband, and how you left your father and mother and the land of your birth and have come to live among a bunch of total strangers. God reward you well for what you’ve done—and with a generous bonus besides from God, to whom you’ve come seeking protection under his wings.”  She said, “Oh sir, such grace, such kindness—I don’t deserve it. You’ve touched my heart, treated me like one of your own. And I don’t even belong here!”  At the lunch break, Boaz said to her, “Come over here; eat some bread. Dip it in the wine.”  So she joined the harvesters. Boaz passed the roasted grain to her. She ate her fill and even had some left over.  When she got up to go back to work, Boaz ordered his servants: “Let her glean where there’s still plenty of grain on the ground—make it easy for her. Better yet, pull some of the good stuff out and leave it for her to glean. Give her special treatment.”

Ruth 2:1-16 (MSG)

The present reality of our world suggests that it is not sufficient for you to be who you are, especially diligently seeking to be who God created you to be.  The world has taught us that to reach the pinnacle of success emotionally, financially, intellectually, and spiritually, we must be like or act like someone else; somehow, it is not sufficient for us to be who we are.  If you have a driving force in which you seek to be someone who you are not or possess that which is not yours, it is a demon, and you must name it to strip it of its power and do an about-face to that which will bring you peace: harmony with the will of God for your life, engage your Re-covering Process.   Remember, you and I have been fearfully and wonderfully made, and God has been and is always thinking toward what is best for us, providing us Hidden Manna that we may discover and recover that which He has created us to be and ordained for our lives, individually and collectively.  Therefore, instead of trying to be like someone else or possess something that is not yours, glean where you are.  Little by little, meticulously, work where you are, sowing toward your harvest by staying focused on what complements you, making you the best you can be, and thus, staying focused on outcomes that yield God’s unmerited favor on your life, the exceedingly, abundantly, more than you can ever ask or think.