Former M.V.C.W.C. - HERALD ARTICLE ARCHIVE








"Woman Of Excellence"
by Kelly Purvis

"Thou art a woman of EXCELLENCE" Ruth 3:11

Written to Honor Reverend Reba Johnson

These words which were spoken from Boaz to Ruth are a picture and type of a present truth. You too are a "Ruth" laboring in our Redeemer' s field, gleaning and gathering beneath His shield. Tis His favor you' ve found; In your life His grace doth abound. At His feet do you rest; Obedient, faithful and blessed. You' re known throughout the gates of the city far and wide; "A Woman of Excellence" an image of His beautiful bride!

It is so touching to visualize the exchange between Boaz and Ruth on the threshing floor the night that these words were spoken. Resting at his feet, she surely was filled with heightened anticipation, with a sense of utmost and imminent fulfillment of purpose. And I' m sure that she was even quite fearful. She knew that her whole life had brought her to this point of destiny. Would she be accepted? Everything seemed to rest upon that fateful moment.

However, she really had nothing to fear. Her Redeemer' s heart was already toward her. She was "accepted in the beloved". The testimony of her life preceded her. Like a living epistle, her life had been read by all. He was well pleased with her. She was known as a "woman of excellence".

That Hebrew word "chayil" comes from the meaning... to bear or bring forth as in childbirth. And as this beautiful language does so well, it paints a picture of a force, like an army; of a great wealth of treasure; of much virtue, strength and valor. This is what Ruth had become! This is what had been brought forth in her life! What a beautiful prophetic picture of the Bride of Christ emerging from among all of the other maids. Revealed and manifested in all of her excellence as a suitable and like mate for our Lord Jesus!

How did she become such as this? We don' t know every thing about her life. Just as we can' t really "walk a mile in another man' s shoes" as each one' s life experiences are uniquely personal, we can however see the milestones and witness the end results ~ peaceable fruits of righteousness, the yield of much training.

Ruth was brought from emptiness to fullness, from famine to feast, from among the dead to the land of the living, from bitterness to pleasantness ~ to walk the promised land in the season of harvest. Through all of the distresses and upheavals that came into her life, her steps continually moved her forward toward her ultimate destiny in God. She lived with a perpetual hope. For the joy set before her, she endured all things with a character of selfless love.

Imagine the human emotions that she surely must have experienced... grief, sadness, fear, inadequacy, and even humiliation as she worked as a beggar servant in the fields owned by another. She didn' t grumble or complain, but simply remained faithful. She "kept her eyes on the field of Boaz" and not another. She was humble and steadfast, doing each day' s work, gathering in each day' s harvest. As Boaz ensured that the labor of her hands was producing abundantly, her sense of ultimate purpose was growing. I wonder... while she was about her daily work...did she know? Did she realize that her time of fulfillment was just ahead? That soon she would be intimately joined with the one who owned those very fields... that she would soon share with Him in all that was His? I think she did ~ and it was the "knowing" that made her "press in" and diligently "pursue" that glorious destiny.

And the time of fulfillment did come. It was a night of intense vulnerability for Ruth at the threshing floor. She had to risk it all! Overcoming fear of man, she lay at His feet. The outcome was already established, the divine plan would culminate in her life.

"Do not fear" "I will redeem you... in the morning"

And Ruth, like Rachel and Leah, built the house of God". Her union with Boaz was not an end in itself... but a beginning... as they brought forth a "son. Her destiny wasn' t salvation and deliverance alone... but her destiny was to bring forth Jesus Christ in the earth!

May it be so even in the Bride of Christ this day!

© All articles remain the sole property of the author (s). Do not reprint or copy without permission of the author (s).

Make a joyful noise!