Doing the Next Good Thing

Part 8 in a study in The Book of Ruth.

The beginning of chapter 2 of a 4 chapter story finds Ruth and Naomi (that’s right, the Mara label has been dropped) settled in Bethlehem and trying to figure out what to do now.

Now Naomi had a relative of her husband's, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.

And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.”

Ruth 2:1-2 (ESV)

How do good people find each other?

First, let’s define what a good person is.

To begin with a good person is not a perfect person. Naomi can tell old friends she is bitter and feels distant from God, but I still believe there is a strong case to be made that she is a good person.

There are many traits we could mention that good people display, but to me we can boil it down to this. A good person cares about others. To state this in the opposite, a good person is not fixated on one’s self.

The worst relationships are with people focused primarily or exclusively on themselves over others. When the going gets tough the selfish get lost. Good people stay in the struggle because they care as much about others as they do about themselves and actually, the primary reason they care about themselves is because they understand that they must be healthy physically, emotionally, and spiritually in order to be healthy enough to able to love others well.

Of course all genuinely caring good people can be come entangled with con artists who will use the other’s goodness to enslave them.

And how can this be avoided?

Sometimes it can’t. However, a good way to navigate through this problem between con artists and genuinely good people is to pray for guidance and then just do the next thing before you without attempting to manipulate or con others yourself.

This is what Ruth did.

She asked Naomi’s permission and blessing to go out into the fields to gather grain behind the harvesters. This was permitted as stated in a section of Israel’s law.

When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

Deuteronomy 24:19 (ESV)

Ruth did not sulk about their situation but stepped out to do something, even if it is to do the lowliest of tasks. And not just to keep herself alive, but to care for Naomi. This makes Ruth a wonderful example of a good person.