Day 8: Ruth 2:4-7 - From morning till now

4 Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “The Lord be with you!”
“The Lord bless you!” they answered.
5 Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, “Who does that young woman belong to?”
6 The overseer replied, “She is the Moabite who came back from Moab with Naomi. 7 She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.’ She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.”

​Enter Boaz, who appears to own the wheat farm Ruth has stumbled upon for survival. He looks to be a follower of God, for he greets his farm hands by saying, “the Lord be with you.” He then asks them about the woman, whom we know as Ruth, that was gathering wheat from the fields.
 
Boaz seems to be interested in this “new girl” and wants to know who she “belongs to.” The overseer replies that she has traveled from Moab with Naomi and has been working very hard since then to provide for her.
 
Twice the overseer labels Ruth according to where she is from – the Moabite from Moab.
 
Ruth comes to her new “home” and she comes with a label. And one not highly looked upon at that. An enemy of the land of the Israelites. Lesser people in their eyes. As if her circumstances weren’t bad enough, she is burdened with an unfavorable societal label.
 
But here is a truth you can count on: God doesn’t look at outside appearances, circumstances, or human labels. He looks at our heart. He sees us…REALLY SEES US. He know it all. The heartbreak, the hidden tears, the unmet expectations, the hard hard work we are doing to overcome. He sees and He loves us. He sees and He is working things all around us.
 
Do you ever feel like labels are placed upon you – accurate or not?
 
Do you feel like the labels keep you from doing things you want to do?
 
Have you ever labeled someone, rather than really getting to know them?