Ruth 2:2

Somebody's Noticing

It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done. Ruth 2:2.

What was it that Ruth had done that had been showed to Boaz? You remember the story. Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and their two boys had left Bethlehem and gone away into the land of Moab because there was a famine in their own land of Judah. Elimelech died in the foreign country, and his two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, married Orpah and Ruth, women of Moab. After a time Mahlon and Chilion died also, and Naomi, left without husband and children, made up her mind to return to her own land. Orpah and Ruth wished to accompany her, but Orpah was persuaded to turn back. Ruth, however, refused to be parted from the lonely old woman, though following Naomi meant leaving her home and country and friends, and going among a strange people who would neither like her nor understand her. It was this story that had come to the ears of Boaz.

When the two women arrived in Bethlehem it was the beginning of the barley harvest. They were very poor and had no food, so Ruth made up her mind to go and work among the gleaners in the harvest; for the Jews had a law that the gleanings of the field the stray ears that had not been gathered up should be left for the poor and the stranger.

I sometimes think Ruth was almost braver when she went out to glean that morning than when she decided to leave home and kinsfolk for Naomi's sake. To begin with, she was mixing with the very poorest of the land, and Ruth had been brought up in a home of comfort and ease. Then she had hard work to do under the burning sun; and, worst of all, she was a foreigner and belonged to a race that were hated and despised by the Israelites. Her skin was dark, and her clothes were strange. The girls who were working in the field would laugh at her, the young men would make fun of her, everybody would stare and pass remarks.

Now Ruth had chanced to choose the field of Boaz, who was a wealthy and much-thought-of man in Bethlehem, and a relation of her late husband. When Boaz came to the field to see how the reapers were getting on, he at once noticed the foreign woman, and asked who she was. When he heard her name he remembered the story that had been told him of Ruth's courage and unselfishness and devotion, and he gave orders that she should be respected, and treated with special kindness. Then Ruth fell at his feet and asked him why he had been so kind, and he told her the reason “It hath fully been showed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore.”

You know the end of the story how Boaz married Ruth and how she became the mother of Obed, who was the grandfather of King David.

I think there are two things we can learn from this story of Ruth; and the first thing is that the beauty that matters is beauty of character.

It was Ruth's beautiful character that attracted Boaz, not her beautiful face. I think if Boaz had not heard what she had done, he would have taken no more notice of her. He would probably have given an order that she should be treated civilly, for he was a kind and courteous man, but he would not have singled her out for special kindness, and he would have gone home and forgotten all about her. We cannot all have beautiful faces; but we can all have beautiful souls. We cannot all be clever, or witty, or gifted; but we can all be faithful, and loving, and unselfish, as Ruth was; and that is of far more value.

Remember there is an ugliness which spoils beauty. It doesn't matter how pretty you are, if you are not beautiful within your character will soon be written on your face. The haughty look and curling lip of pride, the drooping mouth of discontent, the tight hard lips of selfishness, the scowl of anger one or other will be seen on your face for anyone to read.

And remember, too, that there is a beauty which shines through ugliness, which shines through it until it shines all the ugliness away.

There was a little French girl once who was very plain-looking. One day her mother said to her, “My dear, you are so ugly that no one will ever fall in love with you” Those words would have made some little girls hard and bitter, but they had quite the opposite effect on the little French girl. From that day she began very hard to think about other people. She was always trying to make somebody happy the children in the village, the servants in the house, even the very birds that hopped about the garden. Later she grew up and went out into society. Her goodwill and her unselfishness made her the idol of Paris. Great men and noble women loved her. She became a leader in society, and people forgot her plain looks because they loved her so much.

And the other thing I want you to notice is the value of a good name. We are told that “A good name is better than precious ointment.” Take care of your good name. We never know who is taking notes. Ruth did not think she was doing anything specially virtuous that day she chose Naomi and exile and the God of Israel rather than home and comfort and the gods of Moab. But people had noticed her self-sacrifice, and they talked about it. They had talked about it even when she thought they were despising her, and it had come to the ears of Boaz.

Now, while it is very foolish always to be wondering what people are thinking of us, it is well to remember that the people who are worth minding value worth. The young men and women in the harvest field might laugh at Ruth, but Boaz, the brave and courteous, saw in her all that was noble and best in woman. And even when those around us do not value or understand us, God sees and knows, and if we are faithful in the work that He gives us to do, that is all that really matters.