EXPOSITION:

One day, a young woman of marriageable age, after leaving her country and being widowed in her husband’s city of residence, purposed in her heart never to leave her mother-in-law who had lost her husband and children. She was not sure of the outcome of her decision but some things were obvious; that they had nothing and were going to start life in a land foreign to her, that she was likely going to be without the comfort of marriage and children, that providing for herself and the old woman was not going to come easily. However, after she held on to this decision, she embraced more blessings that the past could not offer, the opportunity to be counted as the lineage from which Jesus came. This woman in this story is Ruth.

When we show compassion, it almost always takes great sacrifices that are unpleasant at the beginning. The benefits thereof might not be in near sight. But like Ruth, we should be motivated by our compassion because it goes a long way to save lives and situations.  If Ruth had an unstable mind about her decision, what do you think would have become of Naomi? We do not need to see the end of our compassionate service to begin it. As the book of Hebrews puts it, we might have received angels unknowingly as a result of our good deeds (Heb. 13:2). Your compassion can go a long way to save lives, win souls, have a rippling effect on generations like Ruth’s and bless your own life as well.