What Do People Say About Your Character? Ruth

Ruth 3:11 (ESV)
And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask, for all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman.

Ruth 2:11 (ESV)
But Boaz answered her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before.

What are you known for in the town where you live?   Everyone is known for something.  We are all known for the character of our lives, whether we recognize it or not.   When someone says your name, what do others think?   In the above passage we read about Ruth (the stranger in the land, who came back with her mother-in-law after the death of her husband) and Boaz (a near relative of Ruth’s mother-in-law, Naomi).   In Israel, when a man died, the man’s brother or near kinsmen had the opportunity (right, obligation?) to marry the deceased wife.   Ruth has gone to Boaz to ask if he is interested in this proposition.   Boaz’s reply is that he recognizes the character of Ruth. In fact, everyone recognizes the character of Ruth.   Ruth is a Proverbs 31 woman.   You can’t hide beauty.  You can keep quality character under cover.    People know you by your character.  Ruth was a woman who could have done a lot of bad things, having lost her husband.   She could have turned back to false gods as her sister-in-law did (who’s husband also died).  In Ruth 1:15 we read that she, unlike Ruth, went back to her people and her gods.   We read in chapter two that Naomi herself became bitter about the lost of her husband and her two sons.   Yet, Ruth stood tall in a slouching world.   Ruth was a woman who feared the Lord and that gave her a great name among a people who did not even know her and she did not know them.   That is what attracted Boaz to her.  He goes out of the way to make her welcome to the community.   He eventually marries her and she becomes the mother of Obed, who is the father of King David.    She is mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew’s gospel.   This is a woman of character.  You can’t hide it or fake it.  It will stand out in the community you live.   

Proverbs 22:1 (ESV)
A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,
and favor is better than silver or gold.

Ecclesiastes 7:1 (ESV)
A good name is better than precious ointment,
and the day of death than the day of birth.