So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me. Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.” At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?” Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”

When I spoke to the Lord regarding a wife for myself 24 years ago or so, I knew that God wanted me to think about the things in a wife and a marriage that would honor him first. Sure I wanted to get along and be attracted to my wife, have romance and intimacy with her. But before all of that, she had to love God, be faithful in the things he had called her to, have an outlook for her life that was Godly, understand the roles that God set up for men and women, and seek after him with her whole heart. My wife, Cherish, was not perfect, but was qualified in those areas — as growing or pursuing them. She likewise probably had some similar thoughts on how I should qualify as a Godly man to marry. When, after 22 years of marriage, I look back and reflect on how God has matured each of us, developed our gifts in him, drawn us close to each other and to him — it is amazing!!! Through the hard times and the times of relative ease, we have been held together by his Spirit in our lives.

What we see here is the beginning of a courtship between Boaz and Ruth. Ruth was humble, she saw herself as an outsider and not worth much in a foreign land. But Boaz saw something different— he saw inward beauty on display. Ruth may not have had all the cultural polish and position that other Jewish women in Boaz’s area had, but she was faithful when it hurt to be faithful; and Boaz found that attractive! So much so, that be blesses her with honor and shares a prayer for prosperity over her. Boaz sees her work hard for others benefit, and knows of her past sacrifices and faithfulness, and he find this very attractive indeed.

Many people look to the world for advice on how to be attractive to others — what are the latest styles to wear, cover-up makeup, even surgical procedures to look more attractive. Some others look to wealth, position, power, and prestige to attract a mate. None of this is wrong in and of itself. But what is better is to become a beautiful person on the inside. Ruth gives us this example— she is beautiful because she humbly followed God and served him and served her mother-in-law. She shone and radiated God’s kindness to those around her.
Lord, may I remember the model of Ruth and continue to seek to become beautiful and attractive from the inside first. May others see your heart when they watch me work and serve. Teach me to become more and more humble and faithful.