The Gospel of Ruth

Ok, obviously I know that Ruth is not one of the four Gospels. Several years ago my church in Minneapolis did a sermon series by that title. I loved it. I relisten to it every couple years. It really opened my eyes to the big picture of what was going on in Ruth and it confirmed in my heart that Ruth is my hero in the Bible. After I gave my life to Christ, Ruth became my favorite female character. I see a lot of similarities between us.

She was not an Israelite by birth, but what I love about her conversion is that she saw God's faithfulness in her husband's family and made the choice to leave what she knew to blindly and faithfully follow God. Other characteristics of hers that I love are; she is diligent, hard working, loyal, faithful, Humble, brave, strong, independent, she takes initiative, and above all else she was vulnerable.

While I have always striven to be like Ruth. My hearts desire is to have such a strong and vocal faith in God, that when people talk about me they say, "All that you have done for you [mother-in-law after the death of your husband] has been fully reported to me, and how you left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and come to a people that you did not previously know. May the LORD reward your work, and your wages be full from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge." It's not that I am looking to be the talk of town, I just want my faith to be so evident to all that meet me, this is how they would talk of me.

There is one characteristic that Ruth had that I have always lacked. Ruth risked everything to be Vulnerable at Boaz's feet because she trusted in God. While I have always trusted God, and am rather trusting of people in general (almost to a fault) but when it comes to being vulnerable, I never have truly been. And this is the one thing I long for the most. I want to be vulnerable, to open my heart and life to my friends. To love them and most importantly let them love me.