Five Things To Do When Seeking God as Seen in the book of Ruth

The book of Ruth is picture of our relationship with Jesus and in it we can find lessons in how to get the best out of that relationship. Far too many Christians fail to find the blessings that come along with the free gift of salvation. Ruth chapter three gives us a lesson by showing us five things Ruth did in her preparation to offer herself to Boaz, her kinsmen-redeemer. These five things are things we too, should do when we seek to present ourselves to Christ.

Ruth’s mother-in-law, Naomi, advises Ruth how to prepare herself as a bride would in preparing for her wedding. As the church, we are His bride and we should heed the advice of Naomi from Ruth, chapter 3, verse 3 in which she says, “Wash therefore…”

How often we Christians bemoan our own relationship with Jesus, wondering why we cannot feel His presence as we know we should. Paul repeats the call of Naomi in 2 Corinthians 7:1 saying, “Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.”

The simple truth is this; we maintain far too many holds upon things in our life we would be better off letting go of. We think that because we have freedom in Christ, it’s okay to do whatever we want. But if play in the dirt, we are going to get dirty. Look at 2 Corinthians 6:14 though 7:1. In it we find that we are the temple of the living God and we are no less responsible for keeping that temple clean as were the Old Testament priests. The temple is a holy and sacred place.  James 4:8 reminds us to “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” Notice that James goes so far as to call us “double-minded.” We must ask ourselves this question, Is my relationship with God more important than my passions for the things of the world? Or am I double-minded?

The next thing Naomi instructs Ruth is to “anoint yourself.” In OT days, this spoke of using fragrant oils which not only made a person smell good to others, they also healed and protected people from sickness. As New Testament Christians anointing oil speaks of the Holy Spirit. 1 John 2:20 tells us that we “…have been anointed by the Holy One.” When we live our lives in our own strength we are missing out on accessing the anointing we’ve been given. When Jesus came to live life here on earth, He put aside His own power and did His work in the anointing of the Spirit as an example to us. Since we also have that anointing we are without excuse in serving God with power. To do this requires humility. It is through a humbling of self that we anoint ourselves. We let the Holy Spirit do the work.

The third act Ruth had to do in her preparation was to change clothes. Naomi told Ruth to “put on your best clothes” To Christians this speaks of our salvation as we see in several passages, but maybe best expressed in Isaiah 61:10 which says, “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”

When we come to God in our righteousness we fall short. Again, we are speaking of humility, which is expressed by admitting we are sinners and only through the cloak of righteousness bestowed upon us by the shedding of Christ’s blood can we ever enter into the presence of God. Isaiah 64:6 states it clearly saying that “…all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment." When we enter God’s presence we can only enter by putting on the cloak of Christ. Our best is not good enough.

The fourth thing Ruth had to do in her preparation to meet Boaz was to find out how to approach him. She needed to learn about Boaz. Listen to the advice of Naomi from Ruth 3:4 “But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do.”

Observe and then listen. That was how Ruth could learn what pleases Boaz. This is good counsel for all relationships. And for Christians observing and listening for Jesus to tell us what to do is a simple process. Read His Word. Obey His Word. The principles for Christian living have all been given to us in the scriptures and the Holy Spirit was given to us to be our teacher. The Bible also says that God has ordained teachers and preachers to guide us. But you must make a commitment to go and to observe. We must read His Word.

The fifth act of preparation Ruth needed to do in her presentation of herself to Boaz is to commit to do ALL that he would tell her to do. She wasn’t to do some or part of it or to do only the parts she liked or even understood, but to do ALL he commanded. The truth is that most of us just won’t make that commitment. We will do some. But we just won’t commit to a life of obedience and when we are preached this we cry out “legalism”. That is pure and simple baloney. It violates the very words of Christ, who said this in John 14:15, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” We keep looking back to the things of this world (which would cause Lot’s wife to become a pillar of salt) and playing with our sins and then we wonder why we don’t feel close to God.

We must look at the words of James and make them real in our lives.

James 1:22-25
“But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.
For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.”

Want a relationship with God? Be like Ruth. Wash and anoint yourself, change your clothes and go learn of Him and then promise to obey. If you sincerely present yourself to Christ as Ruth did to Boaz, you will be loved like no bride as ever been loved before. It’s that simple.