In the last lesson we saw that she was searching for food.  She had many strikes against her.  She was not Jewish is the first one.  She was a Moabitess woman.  To her favor was that she was the daughter in law of a man who was well known in the city.  As we will see later in this chapter, we will see how God was ready to bless her.

      We talked of the food of a Christian.  It is prayer, the Word of God and being with God’s people in the house of God.  There is no shortcut in the Christian life.  I realize that some take to being saved quicker but they still start out as newborn babes in Christ. 

      In thinking about the Bible and how is our food for our Christian life, I am sadden that many young people do not study the Bible or see any need to do so.  Here are eight reasons why. 

1. They have not been taught to do so.

2. They do not know how to study the Bible.

3. They have not seen their parents love (or study) it. 

4. They are wrapped up in the things of the world.

5. They have been turned off hypocritical Christians.

6. They are turned off by poorly taught Bible classes.

7. They do not feel any pressing need for it.

8. They do not consider it the final answer to anything.

      There are consequences to not knowing the Word of God.  Let me give ten consequences for not knowing the Word of God.  I will give the reference but will not take the time to read it to you.

1.  You would not know anything about the weapons God has given you for all of your battles with Satan.  You wouldn't know anything about praise being a weapon, His Words being weapons or the effects of simply resisting Satan. 

                                                   Ephesians 6:11-17

2. You wouldn't know anything about the fears of your enemy.  You wouldn't be aware of what Satan feared.  Matthew 4:1-11

                                                Luke 4

3. You wouldn't know anything about the angels who are assigned to help you.            Hebrews 1:13-14

4. You would be ignorant of the Holy Spirit who is within you and beside you.  You would have no knowledge of His power or how to access His presence through singing.          Psalm 100:2

5. You would not know how to judge the behavior, the conduct and the words of other men.  You would be deceived a thousand times more if you didn't have the standard of the Scriptures to judge others.  

6. You would be totally ignorant regarding the reward system in the Scriptures.  The Holy Spirit promises rewards for your obedience, for the battles that you win, for each labor of love that He mentions in Scripture. Matthew 10:42

                                      Mark 9:41

7.  You would have no knowledge the place prepared for you since you are saved.       

                                                John 14:2

8.  You would have no knowledge of the torment of eternity that hell would produce if you didn't get saved.   Luke 16:24

9. You would no motivation in yourself to withdraw from evil and abandon yourself to righteousness.  The Word of God keeps convicting you.

10.  No parent would have any authoritative guidelines for child rearing. 

                   Psalm 119:9

  So, embrace the Holy Word of God with all your heart. Everything that you need to know to succeed in your life as a Christian-- is found within the pages of the Word of God.

      It is important that we help people to develop an appetite for the Bible.  It needs to be a lifelong appetite.  Let move forward and see the other things she is searching.

                  B. She Was Searching For Favor.

      "I shall find grace."  Ruth was looking for some landowner who would be pleased to accept her and to allow her to glean in his fields. She needed this in spite of her nationality and in spite of her past. In spite of who she was, she was looking for grace.

      She pictures that newborn child of God who wants more than anything to please the Lord. Every dilemma is faced with regard to "What would Jesus do?" There is an overwhelming desire to just "please the Lord". This is part of having the "first love". 

                        Revelation 2:1-7

“Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.”

            If we are not careful we can lose our first love just like the church in Ephesus did.  Let give a few facts about that church and let them be our warning today.

            Ephesus was the largest city in Asia Minor. It was the center of the worship of Diana, the goddess of fertility. It was here that thousand of male and female prostitutes gave their services to the temple of Diana. It was considered an honor for the families to give their young daughters and sons to be priests and priestess as they were considered. This was such an immoral religion that we can scarcely consider anything so hideous today. Or can we, with the lifestyles that we find as commonplace today.

   So for what does He commend them?   He commends them for their works. There was no problem with what they were doing. The church was full of good works. This was not a lazy or apathetic church but one who was doing all the right things.

      He commended them for their labor and patience. As we look at their works we notice that they persevered. Many work well for a time but then they want to stop. It is as though some Christians think you can retire from being a Christian.

      So for what does He criticize them? They had moved from their first love. Our first love is that love that we first had for our Savior when we first saw Him as our Saviour. It is like the love that we find in a new relationship between a young lady and young man.  

      So the question should be how do we maintain that first love?  We do it by heeding the warning He gives them.   We do it by remembering. Memory is a wonderful thing. It allows us to experience a feeling by simply remembering an event or occasion. Can you remember the cleanness that you felt when Jesus first made you clean? Do you remember the peace that you had when you first knew that He had forgiven even your darkest sins? Do you remember the sadness that you felt when you first knew that it was for your sins that Jesus died of the cross?  Do you remember the love you felt as, in your mind, you first saw His precious blood flow down at Calvary?  Do you remember how unworthy you felt when you first knew that God had sent His Only Begotten Son to die in your place?  Do you remember how that fathomless love broke your stubborn will and left you with only humble gratitude in your heart?  When you remember those times, does it make you ashamed that you have gotten away from Him your first love?

    We do it by repenting. This means that we turn back to that loving Saviour as He holds out for you His nail scared hands. It means to turn back to the One who gave all because of His love for you. It means to turn back to the One who could have called the angels and came down for the cross had it not been for His love for you. If you find yourself going the wrong direction, the only thing to do is to turn around, go back to where you got off track and then continue in the steps of Jesus.

    We do it by repeating the first works. You remember the first works, don't you?  Remember when you not only did your duty but also enjoyed it. It was when it seemed that you could never do enough. It is when your service was faithful but warm, bubbling and passionate. No one had to remind you or encourage you to labor for the one you loved.

 Many, like Ruth, worry about being accepted by the Lord. Our past is no longer an issue if you are saved by the grace of God. He has given you a brand new start.

                        2^nd Corinthians 5:17

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

      I was talking with a man recently who had a church view of being saved.  He did not have a Bible view though.  I took him to the book of John and gave him a few examples whose life was changed when they met the Saviour.  Let’s look quickly at a few of them.

1. The clean sinner- Nicodemus 

      He came to Jesus at night.  This could only be for one of two reasons.  He came at night out of fear for his fellow Pharisees might think.  Or he came at night because he could not wait unto morning.  His life changed after he meant Jesus.  It changed to the point that he was one of the two rich men who claimed the body of Christ at His death on the cross at Calvary.

                        2. The corrupt sinner- the woman at the well

      She came to the well to get water and left with living water.  Her life was definitively changed.  It was so much that she affected her whole town for Christ.

                        3. The blind man in John chapter nine

      He knew he was blind but after he was healed, he knew his life was changed.  No wonder John Newton took his words and put them in the song “Amazing Grace”.  (“He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.”  John 9:25)

      That is just three people in the book of John.  The entire book is full of people saved by the grace of God and changed by Christ.

         C.  She Was Searching For Fulfillment - Her statement "Let me now go", shows that she is itching to be a blessing to Naomi. Ruth simply wants to serve.

                           In this she is again a picture of a new believer. When a person is saved by the grace of God, they want to do something for the glory of the Lord. They want to serve Jesus.  They are not entirely sure why but they have this urge to serve the Lord Jesus.  A great illustration of this is the demoniac man in Mark 5:18-20.  

               “And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him. Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee. And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel.”

One of the important items for a young Christian to learn is find something to do for the Lord Jesus and do it. Some want to start at the top. But just it was God’s plan for children to crawl before they walk and they are carried before they crawl, so it is with God‘s plan for every newborn babe in Christ. But there is no shame in taking the offering or sweeping the floor. When God can trust you with the small task, He will lift you up for the bigger ones. 1st Peter 5:6 “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time” One of the hardest parts of the Christian life is finding that fulfillment in the small tasks but the Lord wants us to be satisfied with that which seems small. Ruth is satisfied with going to the fields to glean barley. Conclusion: Next time we look at the Lord’s hand in this search of Ruth. When you make God’s business your business, He makes your business His.