During the time of the judges, there was a severe famine in the land of Israel. Together with his wife, Naomi, and their two sons, a man named Elimelech moved to Moab to escape the famine. During their stay, both sons married Moabite women. Over time, Elimelech and both of his sons died.

After finding out that God had provided food for Israel's people, Naomi prepared to travel to her homeland. Naomi tried her best to convince her daughters-in-law, Orpah, and Ruth, to stay in Moab so they could remarry and have families. Orpah listened and returned home, but Ruth said, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me." 18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her. Ruth 1:16-18

Through the Holy Spirit's leading and her heart of loyalty towards Naomi, Ruth was unwilling to leave her mother-in-law alone and chose to honor her instead of doing what was comfortable and even desirable. Consequently, God caused Ruth to connect with a very wealthy and influential Jewish man who became her husband. Ruth ended up giving birth to Obed, Jesse's father, and, as you know, Jesse was King David's father.

Wow! Because of her faith, Ruth, a Gentile woman, was chosen by God to be in Jesus Christ's lineage! From Adam to Jesus Christ, only two women who were not of Jewish descent were honored by God to be in the lineage of Jesus Christ. The first was the prostitute, Rahab, who, by faith, hid the spies. The second is Ruth.

When you choose to listen to the Spirit of God and do what he is telling you to do, there is no telling how far God's favor will take you and...

HOW GREAT YOUR REWARD WILL BE