Friday, August 3

Naomi is Pleased

Narrative Lectionary Daily Devotions written by Kace Leetch from Clergy Stuff.

naomi is pleased

The plot thickens! Not only has Ruth found a field where she can glean, and a farm owner who is kind to her, but now we learn that Boaz is a distant relative of Naomi. This opens a door for them that had not been open before. To protect widows from starvation and poverty, it was customary for relatives of the widows' families could marry them and take care of them in place of the widows' husbands. With Boaz identified as a relative, you can almost see the wheels spinning in Naomi's head. Is there a possibility this could turn out better than hoped?

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Narrative Lectionary Text: Ruth 2:17-20

So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. She picked it up and came into the town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gleaned. Then she took out and gave her what was left over after she herself had been satisfied. Her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.” Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed be he by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a relative of ours, one of our nearest kin.”