While Ruth was gleaning among the sheaves in the field, Boaz, the owner of the field, came over saying to her to stay in his field to gather grain and eat and drink the water his servants have drawn from the well.  Ruth was deeply impressed by Boaz’s hospitality and gentleness saying, “What I have done to deserve such kindness? I am only a foreigner,” (Ruth 2:10).

Yes. Ruth was a foreign daughter-in-laws to Naomi and a foreign wife to Israel. In the eyes of the Israelites, Ruth like many Gentile women didn’t deserve any attention and respect. Nevertheless, Ruth has demonstrated her love and faithfulness to her mother-in-laws and the God of Israel.

When Naomi asked Ruth to return to her parents, she insisted on going with Naomi and never left her. “Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and you God will be my God, (1:16). She accepted the Lord God as her own God and followed Naomi wholeheartedly. As they arrived in Bethlehem, Naomi’s hometown, she look after Naomi her mother-in-law diligently and was hard at work gleaning in the field for Naomi and herself. Then she was found favor in the eyes of Boaz and became his wife.

Most of us are not a tribe of Israel, not chosen by God. We are aliens and foreigners to the kingdom of God. But through the redemption of Jesus Christ, we are able to share the inheritance that belongs to God’s chosen people. Paul said in Colossians 1:13, “He has rescued us from the one who rules in the kingdom of darkness, and has has brought us into the Kingdom of his dear son.” We are no longer foreigners, but the children of God indeed.