OBEDIENCE PAYS. One day her mother-in-law Naomi said to Ruth, “My dear daughter, isn’t it about time I arranged a good home for you so you can have a happy life? 3 “Take a bath. Put on some perfume. Get all dressed up and go to the threshing floor. But don’t let him know you’re there until the party is well under way and he’s had plenty of food and drink. 4 When you see him slipping off to sleep, watch where he lies down and then go there. Lie at his feet to let him know that you are available to him for marriage. Then wait and see what he says. He’ll tell you what to do.” 5 Ruth said, “If you say so, I’ll do it, just as you’ve told me.”  Ruth had unquestionably obedience towards Naomi and that got her into her matrimonial home. You cannot enter your inheritance without having an obedient and teachable spirit. God has given us everything that partains to life and Godliness but you need to understand that you have a part to play to obtain God’s free gifts. The place of obedience is the place of assessing the wealth of the spirit, The place of the obedience is the place of assessing kingdom wealth. You might have struggled in the past but God is saying to you this morning, try obeying me for a change and see how things will turn around for you! Let’s go back to the place of obedience.

Ruth 2:2-3. [2]And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor. Naomi said to her, Go, my daughter. [3]And [Ruth] went and gleaned in a field after the reapers; and she happened to stop at the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. Naomi never introduced Ruth to Boaz, Ruth met Boaz through a divine favor and  alignment to God. Her steps were divinely ordered by God to meet Boaz while she was working to achieve her dreams and earn a living.  Ruth met her husband while working, she was not idle. The kind of job Ruth was doing (gleaning fields) was a very hard job, but still Ruth would  work hard all day to feed herself and Naomi. Boaz only noticed Ruth while she was gleaning (working) in his field. Moral for the ladies: Your Boaz will not come while you sit at home waiting. Get a job, learn a skill, start that project you’ve always wanted to start, get that degree! And as you do that, God will perfectly order your steps to meet the right person for you. Hardwork pays!

DO WHAT YOU KNOW IS RIGHT, NOT WHAT LOOKS RIGHT TO OTHERS. The logical thing for Ruth to do when her husband died was to go home to her own family and look for a new husband. Naomi suggested she do that. And Ruth’s sister-in-law Orpah followed that advice. Ruth could have allowed her questions and doubt to influence her to leave Naomi. But instead her heart came to grips with what she believed. She moved from the agony of questions she could not answer to the reality of answers she could not escape. She felt a deep conviction that she was to stay with Naomi. And she followed that conviction. As leaders we need to remember that strong convictions precede great actions. When we know something is right—and that conviction is bolstered by the knowledge that our motives are pure, as Ruth’s were—we need to follow through. Others may second-guess our thinking and our decision-making. But when we know what’s right, we can’t let those things throw us off. We need to stand by our convictions. As Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said, “Convictions are not merely beliefs we hold; they are those beliefs that hold us in their grip.” Mothers are the first potentially powerful female role model for their daughters therefore a daughters’ beliefs and behaviours may stem directly from those of their mothers. It is now extremely important for women who are in a position to mentor young girls/boys or act as a guardian to lead by example. This is clearly seen in the story of Ruth, this young moabite woman got into a marriage relationship without knowing God but through the influence of her mother in law, Ruth encountered God and that changed her life forever! Moral: Naomi was Ruth’s mother-in-law and not her mother. This simply means that you don’t have to be a mother to influence someone positively. Every day of our lives, let’s work towards influencing the lives around us positively. God bless you!