The Whole Truth
It’s such a common mistake to think that you understand something completely when you only understand it in part. It’s a mistake that can mean living a life that is only half of the life that you’re supposed to live. I learnt this while study Ruth.
After she had met Boaz and received favour from him, she went back to her mother-in-law Naomi who was pleasantly surprised by what she had gleaned. She knew that it had something to do with the owner of the field who had to have taken notice of her, so she asked where Ruth had worked. (This struck my heart, I realized that my success has little to do with me and my hard work, and plenty to do with the field I’m working in. If I am in the right field, the one I’m called for, the Owner shows favour to me by throwing serendipities along my path. This doesn’t mean me working isn’t necessary, it is, Ruth worked alright; but it means I always get more than what I worked for. Sometimes our frustration with being successful isn’t a reflection of me not being good enough, but rather a matter of being in the wrong field. A very good doctor can make a capable, yet lousy lawyer.) Anyway, back to Naomi.
Ruth then tells her where she worked. Naomi’s response is worth notice.
‘“The Lord bless him!” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. “He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead.” She added, “That man is our close relative; he is one of our kinsman-redeemers.”’ Ruth 2:20
If she hadn’t added that last piece of information, what she said wouldn’t have made sense. The fact that Boaz was a close relative and kinsman-redeemer unlocks why Naomi sees his kindness extending from the living to the dead (her husband) as well. But what’s of worth of even more notice is Ruth’s response.
“Then Ruth the Moabitess said, “He even said to me, ‘Stay with my workers until they finish harvesting all my grain.’” Ruth 2:21
Ruth’s response shows that she only understood one part of what Naomi has said, that he was a close relative. It now made sense to her why he was so kind to her, offering her a job for the rest of the harvesting season. But what she should have sought to understand was what it meant to have him as a kinsman-redeemer.
As the verse points it out, Ruth was a Moabitess and the principles that governed Israel’s society were probably foreign to her. Everything she knew about this people and their God came to her through Naomi whom she had vowed to stick by (see Ruth 1:16). She probably wasn’t aware of people titled ‘kinsman redeemers’, but she should have asked, that’s what Naomi was there for, she should have pushed to know everything and not be satisfied by the little that she knew. Because she didn’t, she continued and lived the rest of the chapter by the half she understood.
It’s not until Naomi’s connects the dots in the next chapter, revealing that in Boaz, there was more than just grain available for Ruth, but a home, a guarantee of provision in all seasons, harvest season or not. With this understanding, and Naomi’s guidance, she stakes a claim.
‘” Who are you? He asked. I am your servant Ruth,” she said. “Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a kinsman-redeemer.”’ Ruth 3:9
My point is, we should never be satisfied with the little we know, we should be thirsty to know the whole truth. God has provided us with the resource, the Holy Spirit who guides us into all truth (see John 16:12). The key to moving to the next level of our lives, from gleaning in the field to co-owning the field, is locked up in me understanding, believing, and implementing the whole truth. There’s more to it than grain, do you understand?
After she had met Boaz and received favour from him, she went back to her mother-in-law Naomi who was pleasantly surprised by what she had gleaned. She knew that it had something to do with the owner of the field who had to have taken notice of her, so she asked where Ruth had worked. (This struck my heart, I realized that my success has little to do with me and my hard work, and plenty to do with the field I’m working in. If I am in the right field, the one I’m called for, the Owner shows favour to me by throwing serendipities along my path. This doesn’t mean me working isn’t necessary, it is, Ruth worked alright; but it means I always get more than what I worked for. Sometimes our frustration with being successful isn’t a reflection of me not being good enough, but rather a matter of being in the wrong field. A very good doctor can make a capable, yet lousy lawyer.) Anyway, back to Naomi.
Ruth then tells her where she worked. Naomi’s response is worth notice.
‘“The Lord bless him!” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. “He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead.” She added, “That man is our close relative; he is one of our kinsman-redeemers.”’ Ruth 2:20
If she hadn’t added that last piece of information, what she said wouldn’t have made sense. The fact that Boaz was a close relative and kinsman-redeemer unlocks why Naomi sees his kindness extending from the living to the dead (her husband) as well. But what’s of worth of even more notice is Ruth’s response.
“Then Ruth the Moabitess said, “He even said to me, ‘Stay with my workers until they finish harvesting all my grain.’” Ruth 2:21
Ruth’s response shows that she only understood one part of what Naomi has said, that he was a close relative. It now made sense to her why he was so kind to her, offering her a job for the rest of the harvesting season. But what she should have sought to understand was what it meant to have him as a kinsman-redeemer.
As the verse points it out, Ruth was a Moabitess and the principles that governed Israel’s society were probably foreign to her. Everything she knew about this people and their God came to her through Naomi whom she had vowed to stick by (see Ruth 1:16). She probably wasn’t aware of people titled ‘kinsman redeemers’, but she should have asked, that’s what Naomi was there for, she should have pushed to know everything and not be satisfied by the little that she knew. Because she didn’t, she continued and lived the rest of the chapter by the half she understood.
It’s not until Naomi’s connects the dots in the next chapter, revealing that in Boaz, there was more than just grain available for Ruth, but a home, a guarantee of provision in all seasons, harvest season or not. With this understanding, and Naomi’s guidance, she stakes a claim.
‘” Who are you? He asked. I am your servant Ruth,” she said. “Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a kinsman-redeemer.”’ Ruth 3:9
My point is, we should never be satisfied with the little we know, we should be thirsty to know the whole truth. God has provided us with the resource, the Holy Spirit who guides us into all truth (see John 16:12). The key to moving to the next level of our lives, from gleaning in the field to co-owning the field, is locked up in me understanding, believing, and implementing the whole truth. There’s more to it than grain, do you understand?
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