My kinda guy #5

Last but not least: He’s not afraid to commit. Anyone who is not ready to commit is not worth my time. Why play with my heart like that?

“Stay here for the night, and in the morning if he wants to redeem, good; let him redeem. But if he is not willing, as surely as the Lord lives I will do it. Lie here till morning.” Ruth 3:13

Because Ruth was a widow, she could be redeemed by a kinsman-redeemer, which Boaz was. But Boaz was not the only one, and Ruth didn’t know this. He could have kept it under wraps and went on ahead, but he did not because he was a man of integrity. He wanted to play by the rules. I’m so tired of these boys who only seek ways of bending and breaking the rules, looking for short-cuts into getting what they want. There is something attractive about a man of integrity and standing who is willing to play by God’s rules even if it means he might not get the prize. Biceps and six-packs can never amount to this kind of attractiveness.

Anyway, my point here is, Boaz is not afraid to commit to this woman. The significance of this is linked to her identity. Ruth was not only a widow, but a foreigner as well. Look at what the other kinsman redeemer says when Boaz tells him of Ruth.

“At this, the kinsman-redeemer said, “Then I cannot redeem it because I might endanger my own estate. You redeem it yourself. I cannot do it.” Ruth 4:6

This risk was because the child Ruth would have with her redeemer husband would not be his, but her first husband’s child. And he would be heir of the inheritance. This was a risk indeed but not to Boaz who saw beyond her being a foreigner and widow. Like I said with no.4, he found her and he knew what he had found when he found it, and he was not going to let it slip through his hands easily.

It’s been fun sharing thoughts with you on my expectations. Let’s see what I think of next!