Can people really tell that I am a disciple of Jesus? Am I truly saved or am I deceiving myself? These are questions that many people ask from time to time about their life. However, God doesn’t want us to live in uncertainty. He wants us to know definitively if we truly belong to Him or not. The way that we can know is by how we live our life. It’s not enough to say that you believe in God or that you love Jesus. That profession will be proven true by the way we conduct our lives as we see in today’s text. Ruth 2:11 says, “And Boaz answered and said to her, ‘It has been fully reported to me, all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people home you did not know.'”
Naomi and Ruth have had a hard life. Both of their husbands died and left them as widows. They have traveled back to Naomi’s home town of Bethlehem. Ruth is from Moab and so she would have been seen as an outsider by the Jews is Bethlehem. However, Ruth had made a profession to leave her family’s false gods and to love the One true God. The genuineness of her profession is seen in her leaving her land and her family, as well as, how she is treating Naomi. This points us to what Jesus said in John 13 that people will know that we belong to Him by our love for others.
The proof that we have been saved is going to be much more than just the words that we say. It will be proven by our love for others. A love that is sacrificial, putting the needs of others before our own. While we have seen many terrible stories of people hoarding during the COVID-19 pandemic, we have also seen incredible stories of love and sacrifice for the good of others. These are hallmark traits of disciples of Jesus. How is God calling you to show sacrificial love to those around you? Will the genuineness of your love and faith been revealed by how you live during this time?
By His grace and for His glory,
Pastor Justin