Ruth 4:8-12. Final chapter – The virtuous woman creates a home as a type of Christ, part 5.

June 24, 2018

 

Title: Ruth 4:8-12. Final chapter - The virtuous woman creates a home as a type of Christ, part 5.

 

PRO 31:10 An excellent wife, who can find?

For her worth is far above jewels.

 

PRO 31:11 The heart of her husband trusts in her,

And he will have no lack of gain.

 

PRO 31:12 She does him good and not evil

All the days of her life.

 

PRO 31:13 She looks for wool and flax,

And works with her hands in delight.

 

PRO 31:14 She is like merchant ships;

She brings her food from afar.

 

PRO 31:15 She rises also while it is still night,

And gives food to her household,

And portions to her maidens.

 

PRO 31:16 She considers a field and buys it; From her earnings she plants a vineyard.

 

PRO 31:17 She girds herself with strength, And makes her arms strong.

 

She prepares herself for labor and she does so consistently (strong arms). Her love makes for consistent action and thus strength.

 

Not only are muscles built in this way, but so is faith. The more we apply, the more risks we take on God direction, the more we trust, the more will our faith increase in strength.

 

Almost anyone can “be good” for a day. Plenty of us as children were promised reward if we were good that day. Usually our stamina grew thin as the end of the day approached, and God help our parents if our reward was not forthcoming and fast.

 

Only believers, saints regenerated can perform God’s good. Only those in Christ, indwelt by the Spirit of God can produce Christ’s fruit. Yet, even for us, we can carry the mindset that we were faithful for a time and so deserve a break from it; a sort of vacation from holiness.

 

This excellent woman does good “all the days of her life,” and so did our Lord.

 

We must carry our cross every day. We only finish the race when we exit the earth. Don’t fall for the lie that we deserve a recess from holiness.

 

The flesh wants to go hide and fulfill its desire. The flesh hates holiness or sanctification. It will nag you to get away from the tasks and ways of righteousness and feed it. Hence the fight of faith rages on.

 

Believers get the idea that the plan of God is like a job where we punch in, and when the task is done, we punch out and are free to do things unrelated or outside of God’s goodness, and we have the gall to call this grace. The fruit of the Spirit is to flow through us all the time, from Sunday to Sunday.

 

We wonder who then will take care of us? Where is our own enjoyment going to come from? Remember, this excellent woman is rare. It is very true that most people will not live in holiness. The KOD will paint them as the ones having fun and you are the sucker stuck with the bill. But the word of life paints a different picture.

 

GAL 5:24-25

Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

 

Psa 73, written by Asaph, one of David’s chief musicians, centered on this common theme of the righteous envying the wicked.

 

PSA 73:3 For I was envious of the arrogant,

As I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

 

PSA 73:13 Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure,

And washed my hands in innocence;

 

PSA 73:14 For I have been stricken all day long,

And chastened every morning.

 

“Every morning” refers to a man or woman dedicated to the plan of God every day. This comes with a cost. As our Lord said to us last time, consider the cost. Know what it is that is expected of you and know that I have graciously given you everything you need to accomplish it, and then some. There are no vacations from righteousness.

 

PSA 73:21 When my heart was embittered,

And I was pierced within,

 

PSA 73:22 Then I was senseless and ignorant;

I was like a beast before Thee.

 

PSA 73:23 Nevertheless I am continually with Thee;

Thou hast taken hold of my right hand.

 

PSA 73:24 With Thy counsel Thou wilt guide me,

And afterward receive me to glory.

 

PSA 73:25 Whom have I in heaven but Thee?

And besides Thee, I desire nothing on earth.

 

PSA 73:26 My flesh and my heart may fail,

But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

 

PSA 73:27 For, behold, those who are far from Thee will perish;

Thou hast destroyed all those who are unfaithful to Thee.

 

PSA 73:28 But as for me, the nearness of God is my good;

I have made the Lord God my refuge,

That I may tell of all Thy works.

 

The rich young ruler asked Christ what he must do to inherit eternal life. He was willing to do much, but not to give away his possessions. If you believe that you are a sinner and that Jesus is your Savior, then your money counts for nothing, but the ruler wanted both salvation and possessions of his own.

 

The disciples were beside themselves.

 

LUK 18:26 And they who heard it said, "Then who can be saved?"

 

LUK 18:27 But He said, "The things impossible with men are possible with God."

 

LUK 18:28 And Peter said, "Behold, we have left our own homes, and followed You."

 

LUK 18:29 And He said to them, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God,

 

LUK 18:30 who shall not receive many times as much at this time and in the age to come, eternal life."

 

Because Jesus understood the importance of the plan that the Father had given Him, and as the Son of God He humbled Himself under it, He had the strength and stamina to produce every day.

 

MAT 4:23 And Jesus was going about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.

 

MAT 4:24 And the news about Him went out into all Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, taken with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics; and He healed them.

 

MAT 4:25 And great multitudes followed Him from Galilee and Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan.

 

Jesus had storehouses of strength and energy. It was due to His devotion to the will of the Father and His love of the will of the Father.

 

PRO 31:18 She senses that her gain is good; Her lamp does not go out at night.

 

She not only manages the agriculture, but she continues the other work needed for the home. That her lamp does not go out doesn’t indicate that she never sleeps, but that she does not sleep until the day’s work is done.

 

The word “senses” can be translated as “tastes.”

 

She understands (tastes) that the fruit of her labor is good. We should all recognize the fruit of the Spirit in our own lives as a general and common manifestation.

 

In the agriculture of the time, she could actually taste that the grain, corn, legumes, grapes, figs, olives, and wine were all good.

 

Think of yourself tasting divine love flowing out of you like rivers of living water.

 

In our age we go to the store for these products. But this doesn’t mean that we don’t have fruit of the spiritual kind, which does reveal itself in measurable effects in the home, in our families, at work, and in our relationships.

 

GAL 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

 

GAL 5:23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

 

GAL 5:24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

 

GAL 5:25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

 

GAL 5:26 Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.

 

She tastes that her gain is good. All of us can sense or taste this production of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives in general. Am I generally patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and controlling myself? Do love, joy, and peace reside within me and fill me generally? Another great question is, “Are they increasing?”

 

If we live by the Spirit (and all believers do), let us also walk by the Spirit.