HUMILITY

1: the quality or state of being not proud or haughty : not arrogant or assertive
2: reflecting, expressing, or offered in a spirit of deference or submission

Ruth 4:11-22

In this final passage of the book of Ruth, Ruth herself is only mentioned by name once. There is a lot of attention paid to Naomi and God redeeming her circumstances through Ruth's child. As a part of recounting this redemption, Ruth is referred to as being "better than seven sons," but the focus of the passage is definitely not on her. It made me wonder what we would each name the book of Ruth if we were to read it with no title. I'm not sure she's the character that would stand out the most to me if I were reading an untitled accounting of her story.

This is because Ruth does a great job of making her story about other people. Her decision to come to Bethlehem is about Naomi. Her faithfulness in gleaning wheat and barley is about providing for Naomi. Even her approach to Boaz about marriage is directed by Naomi and when the citizens of Bethlehem praise the birth of her child by saying, "Naomi has a son," it is not recorded that Ruth objected in the least.

Given that Ruth isn't the boldest character in the book, why is the book called Ruth? I think it's because God wanted us to look more closely at her and if the book were named for something or someone else, we might miss her. This struck me as a profoundly important point: Am I content to let my story be about other people? Am I living my life to serve others and provide for others? Am I looking so hard and so closely at Christ that those around me can see him reflected in my eyes?

Ruth doesn't call attention to herself. She makes godly choices, is faithful, kind and obedient. I'm fairly certain I would not be described in the same way by those who know (and even love) me. It's a high bar that is set in this story. True humility is not easy, even though humble people often make it look so. I think humility is so antithetical to our human nature that one must pursue it continually in order to approach it.

I've been thinking about what my take away for Ruth will be. How will I remember what I've learned from this book? Ruth didn't follow convention, she worked diligently, she walked a path that seemed doubtful and she did it all with humility. Like Ruth, I know the epilogue to my story. Ruth is remembered as the grandmother of David and is named in the lineage of Christ. I'm in that lineage too, as a daughter of God. Who knows what the prologue to Ruth's story was? She almost certainly grew up in a pagan home and she certainly sinned in some way not recounted in this book. I can take comfort in the fact that the prologue to my story doesn't make the epilogue any less true.