LESSONS FORM THE BOOK OF RUTH PT 1

I have heard it said often that if you want to succeed, it is helpful to look at the lives of successful people. So I have been looking at the lives of various successful people including that of Ruth and Boaz. Today I want to begin to share some of the lessons I learnt from the life of Boaz and Ruth in the book of Ruth. The bible tells us that Boaz waswealthy, influential and then he somehow walked his way into the height of spiritual success entering into the lineage of Jesus. I think this may be a good time to re-evaluate our lives in the context of some of these lessons so I thought to share with you,

It always starts with a decision: Every permanent positive turnaround in our lives starts with a decision. The right decision made with the God’s guidance. The bible tells us that God causes us to will and then to do. He inspires us through our thoughts and if we align, we would make the appropriate decision so that He then grants the grace to do according to the decision. 

Ruth 2: 2a NLT “One day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, ‘let me go out into the harvest fields to pick up the stalks of grain left behind by anyone who is kind enough to let me do it.”

Decision has to be backed with a doing:There must be something you need to do. Don’t remain dormant, expecting that God will do for you what needs to be done. You have your part to play. You need to be certain that what you are about to do is in furtherance of the decisionyou made. As soon as you make the decision, the devil will throw different options at you. Some will be outright wrong and some will seem likely but wrong. You have to let the spirit of God guide you; He will only lead you to the right option which will be in furtherance of your decision.  

Ruth 2: 3NLT “So Ruth went out to gather grain behind the harvesters.”

Good relationship with your staff will positively influence their output:From the way Boaz greeted his staff and their response, they clearly had a good relationship. Indeed, he blessed them and they in turn responded with a blessing for their boss. He was obviously not mean to them living the life of a wealthy man and leaving their salaries unpaid. He must have met his obligations to them. It is not the norm for staff to bless their bosses so they must have known that he cared genuinely about them.

 Ruth 2: “Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters. ‘The Lord be with you!’ he said. ‘The Lord bless you!’ the harvesters replied.”

It is important to pay attention to details: It is amazing that Boaz noticed one lady he had never seen on his farm and did not ignore the fact that there a stranger on his business premises or company. He must have known all his staff and even known all the other people that come to glean on his farm. If he did not know them all, he would not have noticed that there was a stranger in their midst. He not only asked who she was but wanted details. A lot of people would have thought that was unnecessary and he was wasting too much time on the unimportant things but the tiny details obviously go a long way to make a difference.

 Ruth 2: 5 “then Boaz asked his foreman, ‘who is that young woman over there? Who does she belong to?”