A Virtuous Woman

We are continuing our look at the Book of Ruth, staying in chapter 3. I realized that when Ruth went to Boaz and asked for redemption, he called her a virtuous woman, even though there was nothing about her that would be considered virtuous, other than the fact that she had honored and loved Naomi and had accepted the God of Israel as her own. She was simply a Moabitess, a heathen Gentile outside of the covenant--poor, widowed, under the curse, living in a hostile region where she wasn't even allowed to worship in the temple--and yet Boaz saw her as virtuous. The amplified bible describes her more fully as a woman of strength, worth, bravery and capability.

Immediately, I thought of the Proverbs 31 woman who God called virtuous. Enough with man's definitions of what and who is virtuous--let's see what God says on the matter! All of my life I had heard verses 10-31 preached and taught in context of a woman's natural circumstances, but now that we have received revelation that the Book of Ruth is a word picture of the church and her heavenly Boaz, Jesus, we are able to see things from a spiritual perspective.

Today, when we read verse 10, the first thing that caught our attention is that a virtuous woman is someone who is precious--more precious than fine jewels, rubies, and pearls. When Jesus looks at us, His church, he sees us as precious and lovely, like a valuable and rare stone! Did you know that? I sure didn't--not until I got into these scriptures, and the Holy Spirit started to shed light on the issue. The Lord goes on to say in verse 11 that He trusts in us, relies on us, and believes in us. He believes we can do all things through Him who strengthens us! He believes that greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world! He trusts us with the gifts, talents and anointings He has given us, so lets use them and be confident that He is pleased!

Once we have revelation of how precious, loved, honored, and trusted we are, then we will be able to see (like the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31 and Ruth), that all we do in and for the kingdom is good (verse 18). If your heavenly bridegroom has equipped you and empowered you to do something, He trusts you with that ability and ensures that the fruit of your labors will be GOOD! You will not have fear, you will not be afraid, you are secure in the truth that you and your entire family are protected and covered in scarlet (the blood) (verse 21). You will love Him, trust Him, revere Him, and you, in turn, will be praised! (verses 30-31) While we praise Him for all He is, He is praising us for all we are in Him. We are His precious, lovely, and righteous bride!

Read Proverbs 31:10-31 and get a revelation of how precious you are to Jesus! He died for you, His precious, lovely one!