Heart and Mind

by: Michael Wilcock

What an admirable character Boaz is. Both his heart and his mind are fully alert, although it is midnight at the threshing floor and he has just been awakened to such an unexpected situation. Do you know people who either are “all brains and no heart,” or “all heart and no brains”? Or do people perhaps think you are one of these things, and if so, do you make excuses for yourself: “It’s just the way I’m made”? Be honest!

You could never accuse Boaz of being either heartless or thoughtless. He thinks things through. Ruth ought not to go home either in the dark (which would be dangerous) or in the daylight (if she were seen people might get the wrong idea, and it might make difficulties for the negotiations he is going to begin). So he sends her home at the crack of dawn.

In such a man there is no great distance between thoughtfulness and love, mind and heart. And he shows his care not just for Ruth but also for Naomi by his very generous gift.

Scripture is not just saying we should be like Boaz. It’s saying that in many ways Boaz is a picture of Jesus, and this is one of the ways we ought to be like him.