Introduction: Favor with the Lord is fabulous! Do you want to find FAVOR with Jesus? But you ask how? This devotion will describe how Ruth found FAVOR with the Lord.

Ruth found FAVOR!

Here is the outline of Ruth by chapters:

1. A Famine (Ruth 1:1)

“Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land.”

A family of four left Bethlehem because of a famine and landed in Moab, which is modern day Jordan. It just so happens the daddy and both sons died after marrying two Moabite women, one of which was Ruth. Naomi, the grieving mother and wife of the two deceased decided to go back to Bethlehem because the famine was over. Ruth had a choice to either stay in Moab with her friends and family or go back with her mother in law. Evidently, Ruth saw the living God working through her mother in law, and therefore went with her. 

“And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: 17Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.” (Ruth 1:16-17)

Do you have that kind of commitment to follow Jesus?

2. A Field (Ruth 2:1-2)

“1And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband’s, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz. 2And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter.”

After deciding to follow the God of the Bible, Ruth started trusting Him to lead her where it just so happened that she ended up on the fields of Boaz. 

Are you trusting the Lord to follow Him?

3. FAVOR (Ruth 2:12-13;3:9-12)

“12The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust. 13Then she said, Let me find favour in thy sight, my lord; for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken friendly unto thine handmaid, though I be not like unto one of thine handmaidens.”

Ruth found FAVOR! God honored her life. 

“9And he said, Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth thine handmaid: spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman. 10And he said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my daughter: for thou hast shewed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followedst not young men, whether poor or rich. 11And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou requirest: for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman.”

Ruth’s FAITH was rewarded! Can you see the FAVOR of God rewarding obedience?

4. A Family (Ruth 4:13,14)

“13So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bare a son. 14And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the LORD, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel.”

God’s plan for Ruth began to unfold. She would be in the lineage of King David and eventually Jesus Christ. Can you see God’s will unfold in your life?

Conclusion: A careful study of the book of Ruth reveals that her personal decisions to follow the God of the Bible led to her bountiful blessings!

She indeed found FAVOR with God.

We can too!!