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Do we treat them merely fair and prescriptively, or are there ways we could go over and above the norm? Reflecting on Ruth, a Jewish Rabbi put it this way, "this bookteaches us that we must go well beyond what is prescribed. We must crown every preceptwith compassionate love."

Five Applications:
Each theological point discussed above can have real contemporary significance to believers today.

First, Ruth draws our attention to God's habit of taking the most unusual or unsuitable people, and using them for his glory. All of the women in Christ's genealogy-Hagar, Tamar, Ruth, and Bathsheba-were foreign women with questionable backgrounds, yet God chose them to outwork his plan of salvation for the whole world. This knowledge makes us thankful for the grace of God that redeems us from out of our sin, our circumstances, and our past. It should also leave us without excuse, as God may call upon any one of us at any time to be used as His instrument. Will we be willing when the time comes?

The message of redemption in Ruth is a lovely metaphor of the redemption we as believers have experienced in Christ. It is also a very practical example of how one man displayed that redemptive spirit in his actions toward another. Today, as people redeemed by God, I believe we too are called to treat others redemptively. Everywhere around us there are people enslaved and trapped by their circumstances: poverty, unemployment, homelessness, drug addiction, and prostitution, to name only a few. Are we willing to make a sacrifice to redeem them up from these places? Redemption and sacrifice go hand-in-hand. It may cost you time, money, emotional energy, or comfort. Are we willing to show the same kindness shown to us and rescue others?

God's faithfulness in answering prayer is cause for great joy! It should lead us to thankfulness, and to confidence that our God hears us and will act. It is an opportunity to boast about our God, and make his name great among those outside, by retelling the times God has acted in response to prayer. We should also not forget God's work through the ordinary, how his hand guides the circumstances that we are in. Often today, I think we fall into a trap of looking for great and marvelous acts of God that will miraculously change our circumstances (usually for our selfish gain or, in a strange way, to entertain us, or give us something to talk about). When we do this, we miss the majority of God's work. As believers we ought to challenge one another to

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