Every Day Light with Selwyn Hughes

For Reading and Meditation:     Ruth 1:3-5

Although Elimelech's decision to care and provide for his family must be applauded, there can be little doubt that in moving to the land of Moab he went against the will of God. Everything seemed to go well at first, and no doubt the improved economic conditions were to their liking. One day, however, tragedy strikes....

For Reading and Meditation:     Ruth 1:14-18

After Naomi's advice to her daughters-in-law that they should stay in Moab, Orpah, albeit reluctantly, prepares to return home. So deep however is Ruth's love for her mother-in-law that she begs to be allowed to accompany her to Israel, in one of the most moving passages in the Old Testament. Ruth is well aware that...

For Reading and Meditation:     Ruth 1:6-13

After Naomi has recovered from the shock of losing her husband and two sons in the land of Moab, she hears that Israel is once again a flourishing land and she makes up her mind to return to her people. When she announces her intentions to her daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah, they decide to accompany her on the journey...

For Reading and Meditation:     Ruth 1:19-22

After the long journey from Moab, Naomi, in company with her daughter-in-law, Ruth, finally reaches Bethlehem. There she is welcomed by the whole community, who seemingly turn out in force to greet her. One can deduce from the question "Can this be Naomi?" (v. 19) something of the change that must have taken place in her...

For Reading and Meditation:     Ruth 2:1

This one verse is like a window through which light floods to illuminate Naomi's family background. It tells us that her deceased husband, Elimelech, came from a wealthy family, and that now most of that wealth was in the hands of a young relative of Elimelech's - Boaz. We know from the preceding verse (

For Reading and Meditation:     Ruth 2:2-3

Ruth has no difficulty in finding a task to gainfully occupy her for, as we read in Ruth 1:22, they arrived in Bethlehem "as the barley harvest was beginning." At harvest time there was always work to be found in the fields, even if it was only gathering up after the reapers....

For Reading and Meditation:     Ruth 2:3

We spend another day considering how Ruth finds herself gleaning a field which belonged to Boaz, not by chance but by divine guidance. Eliezer, Abraham's servant, you remember, experienced similar leading when he went to search for a bride for Isaac: "I being in the way, the Lord led me" (

For Reading and Meditation:     Ruth 2:4

The reception which Boaz receives from his workers when he arrives in his field shows that his relationship with them was far removed, generally speaking, from today's management-labor relations. Boaz greets his workers with the words "The Lord be with you!," and the workers reply: "The Lord bless you!" Can you imagine that...

For Reading and Meditation:     Ruth 2:5-12

As Boaz makes his way through the field, talking to his workers, his eye falls upon the figure of Ruth. "Who is she?" he asks. His workers quickly inform him that she is the widowed daughter-in-law of Naomi, a Moabite by birth. We cannot be sure that it was love at first sight, but Boaz certainly shows all the signs of it....

For Reading and Meditation:     Ruth 2:13-17

Today we see how his protective concern leads Boaz to invite Ruth to join him during a meal break. "Come over here," he says: "Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar" (v. 14). A little later he offers her some roasted grain. Gets more interesting, doesn't it? Once Ruth has completed her meal, she returns to her...

For Reading and Meditation:     Ruth 2:18-21

It is not difficult to imagine the kind of thoughts that may have been going through Naomi's mind as she dwells on Ruth's first day in the harvest field. How will she fare? What will the men say about her - a foreigner? Will she be successful in bringing home enough grain to help keep body and soul together? If Naomi had...

For Reading and Meditation:     Ruth 2:22-23

Ruth continues to glean in the field of Boaz, secure in the knowledge that when the barley harvest is over she will be able to stay on and participate in the wheat harvest as well. Naomi is equally elated as she senses that Ruth's meeting with Boaz is no accident, but part of God's wonderful provision and care. One can...

For Reading and Meditation:     Ruth 3:1

As Naomi ponders the sovereignty of God in the meeting between Ruth and Boaz, she begins to realize there is a distinct possibility that Boaz will take on the responsibility of marrying Ruth and providing the security she needs in the future. She begins, therefore, to formulate a clear and daring plan to ensure the continuance...

For Reading and Meditation:     Esther 2:7-8

Yesterday we saw how God's purposeful and loving hand had gently guided Mordecai to Susa in Persia in order that he might be the right man in the right place at the right time. Today we meet the woman who is the centerpiece of the story - the lovely Esther. She was, in fact, the adopted daughter of Mordecai. He had taken...