The Five Characteristics Of Obedience

The people who just gave testimony about their experience in Honduras also took risks and because of the risk they saw God’s blessing on their lives and in their ministry toward the Hondurans they encountered. Sometimes the blessing of God on our lives comes in physical form, sometimes in other forms like the enjoyment of seeing people coming to know Christ. And sometimes we won’t experience God’s blessing and see the total fruit of our obedience until we’re heaven where our full reward is. But we will be blessed in some way for our obedience to Christ, just as Abraham and just as Ruth were.

Ruth states in verse 16 and 17 of chapter one “Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the LORD do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me.” Loyalty. Ruth’s loyalty to her mother-in-law became one of the cornerstone features of this amazing story of obedience and love and is the second characteristic of a person of obedience. Perhaps the author of Proverbs thought of his great-great-grandmother Ruth when he wrote these words in chapter 3 verses 3 and 4: “Never let loyalty and kindness get away from you! Wear them like a necklace; write them deep within your heart. Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will gain a good reputation.” The Hebrew word for loyalty here is ḥeseḏ and can be translated as love and it means loyalty to one’s covenant or commitment. When we speak of a marriage covenant, we speak of a relationship marked by ḥeseḏ – it is a deep love motivated by commitment. If we are have ḥeseḏ with God we love God to the extent that we are committed to Him and to His teachings. Jesus said that if you love me, if you are loyal to me, you will obey my commandments. Loyalty and obedience go hand in hand. You cannot be loyal to a King and disobey Him. If you disobey, you are not loyal. Ruth’s display of ḥeseḏ toward her mother-in-law, her display of commitment, is a mark of her obedience.

At the beginning of chapter two a new name is introduced into this narrative, Boaz. What do we know of Boaz? Well, if we look ahead a little we discover that he was a relative of some sort to Elimelech, Naomi’s deceased husband. He was also a wealthy land owner in Bethlehem (as verse 3 tells us), verse 8 tells us that he was a generous person and from the title that is given him in verse 1 of chapter 2 and from his actions displayed at the end of chapter 3 he was “a man of standing” - he was obedient to the law of the land and lived an exemplary lifestyle. – Men – don’t you want people to say these things about you? I knew a man once who held a leadership position in his community. Now we all know that anyone can hold a leadership position yet not have the respect of the people. However this man that I knew had the people’s respect and every time his name was mentioned, there was nothing but good things to say. It was the same with Boaz. A man with integrity. A man who had sensitivity. A man who displayed honor and was honored.