Daily Devotional | Naomi and Ruth: A Risky Plan

Are you a risk taker? Whether we realize it or not, we make choices every day, deciding what level of risk we are willing to take. What will be the consequences of our next steps?

Ruth had been gleaning in Boaz’s field for two months when Naomi approached with what seemed like a risky idea. Naomi had been healing from her grief, and now was ready to move forward. She realized that the current arrangement with Boaz, although generous, was not permanent. And when Naomi died, Ruth would be vulnerable as a widow and a foreigner.

Naomi’s plan involved Boaz, “our relative” (2:20). Her use of the plural “our” (in the Hebrew) gives Ruth family status. The Hebrew grammar also emphasizes that Boaz was not just a relative, but the relative (2:20). Boaz was the one who would redeem the family line.

Still, Naomi’s plan involved risk. She advised Ruth to take a bath, put on perfume, and adorn herself in her best clothes. In 2 Samuel 12:20, David went through a similar process to prepare for worship after his son’s death. These acts signaled an end of mourning. Ruth had likely been wearing widow’s garments. Now her time of mourning was complete.

Ruth was to go to the threshing floor, where Boaz was sleeping to protect his harvest from animals and thieves. Once he had gone to sleep, Ruth was to uncover his feet, lie down, and wait for his instructions. Was this as brazen an act as it seems to us today? That is unlikely since the author went to great lengths to establish Boaz’s high character. But it did come with risk. Would Boaz welcome her gesture? How would he respond?

>> Before we are fully able to move into a new season—even a very beautiful one—we must take the time to “say goodbye” to what came before. What things might you need to say “goodbye” to in order to step into God’s plan for your future?

Pray with Us

Your Word says there is “a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance” (Eccl. 3:4). As we undergo transition, guide us through grief and into rejoicing at the proper time.

BY Kelli Worrall

Kelli Worrall is Professor of Communications and Chair of the Division of Music and Media Arts at Moody Bible Institute. She is the author of several books, including Pierced and Embraced: 7 Life-Changing Encounters with the Love of Christ. Kelli studied at Cedarville University (BA), Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (MRE), and Roosevelt University (MFA). Kelli and her husband, Peter, are parents of two children through adoption and enjoy decorating their Craftsman house.