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I'm sure that most of you are familiar with Johnson Oatman's hymn, "Count Your Blessings." During the great Welsh revival it was one of the hymns sung at every service. The familiar chorus goes:
Count your blessings, Name them one by one; Count your blessings, See what God hath done.
No doubt as Ruth returned home she must have been counting her blessings. She had left home worrying, but she returned home worshipping. She had walked into a field hoping for a little and left the field happy with a lot. She had started the day with an empty stomach and ended the day with a full soul. I have heard people say, "All I want is the crumbs from the Master's table." I guess that is why we have so many crummy Christians. God is not a Brylcreem God (Just a dab will do). He is a God that as the Psalmist declared in Psalm 68:19, "Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits." All of us need to count our blessings and see what God has done. If we did, we would find that we need a calculator to add up the blessings of God in our life. It would not take us long to realize that we have been loaded with spiritual benefits. To count our blessings will cause each of us to say with Naomi, "Blessed be the Lord, Who hath not left off His kindness to the living and the dead" (2:20). Now let's consider these blessings in our life as we look at Ruth's barley blessings in the field of Boaz. First, think with me of: 1. HOW GOD ENRICHES US THROUGH HIS BLESSINGS Our text and context describes for us the blessings Ruth experienced. This had been a wonderful day in Ruth's life. You might say that this was a red letter day in her life. It had been a day she would never forget. Her life had been greatly, graciously, and gloriously enriched. Proverbs 28:20 says, "A faithful man shall abound with blessings:" Ruth had abounded in blessings. She had been loaded with benefits. Now how did these blessings enrich the life of Ruth? How do God blessings enrich our life? First, we see that God's blessings: A) Increase Our Apprehension Through all that happened on this day, Ruth was growing in knowledge of her new God. She was learning what her God could do and what He was like. By God's blessings in our life we learn how trustful is His Word, how meaningful is His Ways, and how powerful is His Work. Let me show you what I mean. Let's look back at this day in Ruth's life. Let me remind you of what has happened and notice what the blessings of the day taught Ruth about God. She had learned something about God’s providence. Notice Ruth 2:3, "And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech." Her "hap" was not happenstance but providence. She was learning that God was in control. She was learning that God had a plan and purpose for her life and was ordering things and over-ruling things to bring that plan to pass. Often the blessings we experience in life serve as a teacher that God is in charge and He is in control. God's blessings are often the classroom of life whereby we learn that He has a plan and a purpose for our life and is working to fulfill that purpose. She had also learned something about God’s provision. Notice verse 14, "And Boaz said unto her, At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers: and he reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and left." Also notice verse 17, "So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley." She had a belly full by the middle of the day and she had a basket full by the end of the day (an ephah was approximately 8 gallons). She was learning that God would supply all her need according to His riches in glory. She was learning what David would one day learn and testify to in Psalm 37:25, "I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread." I remember when my wife and I were first married. As teenagers, we sung in a chorus group from our Church. God had called us to Bible School and the last time we sung with the chorus was at the Hunter First Baptist Church in Elizabethton, Tennessee. We sung the verses of "Because He Lives." The pastor introduced us and made mention that we were leaving for Bible School. After we sung the song, the pastor of the Church got up and said, ”God has laid it upon my heart that He wants us to help this young couple.” People started coming from all over the building putting money on the altar. We knew that God had called us to school but had no ideal how we were going to get there, much less attend school. But God met our need that night. That night God taught us that He could and would provide our needs. God's blessings in our life increase our knowledge and apprehension of God. Furthermore, we see that God's blessings: B. Inspires Our Appreciation. We read in verse 10, "Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?" The blessings she experienced moved her to humility and gratitude. The overwhelmed heart is always an overflowing heart. The goodness of God inspires the thankfulness of man. I once read a definition of a Christian that I think is excellent: "A Christian is someone that does not have to consult his bankbook to see how wealthy he really is." We are so blessed! Our wealth may not be reflected in our checkbook but it is revealed in God's Book! We are daily loaded with God's blessings. Everyday ought to be a day of thanksgiving. A little girl whose father was a disc jockey, was invited to a friends house for dinner. She was asked to say the blessing. The little girl cleared her throat, looked at her wristwatch and said, "This food, friends, is coming to you through the courtesy of Almighty God." When we realize and reflect on the blessings we enjoy hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, and eternally, our hearts ought to be overwhelmed with thankfulness and overflowing with thanksgiving. Secondly, think with me of: 2. HOW GOD ENTRUSTS US WITH HIS BLESSINGS In verse 17, we see Ruth returning home with an ephah (8 gallons) of barley. She has all this barley. What is she going to do with it all? What should we do with all the blessings we experience and enjoy. Ruth realized, as should we, that she had been entrusted with all the barley she had gleaned. As we think about our blessings, we need to be mindful that the blessings of our life are: A. Seen By Others. Notice in verse 18, "And she took it up, and went into the city: and her mother in law saw what she had gleaned: and she brought forth, and gave to her that she had reserved after she was sufficed." I can hear Ruth kicking against the door with her foot saying, "Open the door. I've got my arms full." The blessings of God in Ruth's life were obvious. Naomi saw what she had gleaned." Naomi said in verse 19, "Where hast thou gleaned to day? and where wroughtest thou? blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee." Let me put a Trivette paraphrase on her words: "Ruth, land of living, where did you get all that barley?" God had blessed her and it was obvious. I remember as a young preacher hearing a preacher ask a question that was like an arrow to my soul: "What is it about your life that cannot be explained in terms of the natural, but only the supernatural?" I'm afraid that in too many cases we naturally religious. We come to church with a stain-glass look on our faces and speak in funeral home tones. The preacher stands in the pulpit and intones, "dearly beloved" as if he just swallowed the communion table. It is like the description one gave:
They're praising God on Sunday, They will be all right on Monday, Its just a little habit they've acquired.
Instead of being naturally supernatural and supernaturally natural, we are just naturally natural and natural naturally. Naomi saw the blessings of God in Ruth's life. Do others see God's blessings in our life? Can they look at our life and it is obvious that God is doing something in our life? There is an interesting statement found in I Peter 2:9, "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light." The words "shew forth" describe an advertisement. We are to be a bill board for Jesus. We are to be an advertisement of Who He is and what He can do. Ruth was such a bill-board! Notice how Ruth was a bill board for God. Notice that in Vs.19, Naomi asked "WHERE" she had gleaned. Ruth did not tell her where but with "WHOM." "And her mother in law said unto her, Where hast thou gleaned to day? and where wroughtest thou? blessed be he that did take knowledge of thee. And she shewed her mother in law with whom she had wrought, and said, The man's name with whom I wrought to day is Boaz." Ruth witnessed to the blessings she had received from Boaz. We should be a witness to our Lord and all He has done. We are also reminded that the blessings of our life are to be: B. Shared With Others. Notice verse 18, "And she took it up, and went into the city: and her mother in law saw what she had gleaned: and she brought forth, and gave to her that she had reserved after she was sufficed." Ruth shared with Naomi that she had been blessed with. I'm sure that Ruth almost ran home with her barley, all the time thinking about what she had to share with her mother-in-law. Paul said in Romans 14:7, "For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself." There is a divine cycle involved in the blessings of God. The blessings come down from God to man, go out from man to man, go back from man to God, and then the cycle starts all over again. Many believers are like the Dead Sea. It is so named because of the unusual amount of salt that is found in the water. Normal sea water weighs about 10 1/4 pounds per gallon and contains about 1/2 pound of salt. The water from the Dead Sea weighs about 12 1/4 pounds and contains approximately 3 1/3 pounds of salt. Very little life exists in its waters because of such a heavy salt content. One of the reasons it is so salty is that it has 6 main inlets but no outlets. It is always taking in but never giving out. Someone has said that our service to people is the paying of interest on the life that has been loaned us. Our blessings are a loan from God to be shared with others. All the barley we have reaped is not to be stored in barns but shared with others. Benjamin Franklin once received a letter thanking him for his service. He replied, "As to the kindness you mentioned, I wish I could have been more of service to you than I have been, but if I had, the only thanks that I should desire are that you would always be ready to serve any other person, that may need your assistance. . . As for my own part, when I am employed in the service of others I do not look upon myself as conferring favors but paying debts." We experience the blessings and we are to extend the blessings. We take in the blessings and we are to give out the blessings. We glean and we are to give. We are blessed and we are to be a blessing. Paul said in I Timothy 1:11, "According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust." We have been entrusted with our blessings. Thirdly, think with me of: 3. HOW GOD EMPLOYS US BY HIS BLESSINGS We are enriched through, entrusted with, and employed by God's blessings. The blessings we experience actually become an instrument in the hand of God to bless others. The food we glean often becomes food that others eat. I hear people all the time saying, "I want God to use me." One way in which He is going to use you is through what He has already done for you. Notice how God used the blessings He had given to Ruth to bring blessings in Naomi life. Notice how he takes our blessings and uses them in the lives of others. First, we see that God uses our blessings to: A) Encourage A Weak Faith Notice verse 20, "And Naomi said unto her daughter in law, Blessed be the LORD, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead." When Naomi had returned she called herself Mara (Bitter). She stated that the Lord had brought her home empty. She considered herself living, but also dead. But when Ruth walked through the door with all that barley, it was like she saying, "God has not forgotten me. He still loves me and cares for me." Her weak faith was strengthened by the blessings she observed and obtained from Ruth. Ruth had a need in her life. God met that need. By that which God met her need, God met Naomi's need. There have been needs in our life and God met our needs. It may be that God wants to take what He has done for us to help others. I think of what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 1:3-6, "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.” There is a ministry in California called "Spatula." It is a ministry that seeks to give help, counseling, and guidance to parents whose children are homosexual. It was begun by a woman, whose son walked in the kitchen one day, and said, "Mom, I'm gay." It was a bombshell to this mother. Through her trial, she discovered that there was little resources for people that were going through what she was going through. That realization led to the founding of “Spatula.” What God has done for you may be how He will use you to help others. You that have lost a mate, have wayward children, have cancer, etc., God can use you to be a blessing to others. You can share what you learned and received of the Lord. We also see that God uses our blessings to: B. Effect A Worshipping Faith. Notice Naomi's reaction in verse 20, "And Naomi said unto her daughter in law, Blessed be he of the LORD, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead." Naomi praises God. Her weak faith is now a worshipping faith. God used Ruth's blessings to encourage a weak faith and effect a worshipping faith. Our former experiences of God may be just what someone else needs for a fresh encounter with God. What God has done in our lives may be that which God will use to make Himself real in someone else. What will we do with all the barley? Let it become food for others! |
