Gratitude brings prosperity was a gospel sermon message preached by Pastor Sonny Wogu during the thanksgiving Sunday service.
Text: "Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set over the reapers, Whose damsel [is] this? And the servant that was set over the reapers answered and said, It [is] the Moabitish damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab: And she said, I pray you, let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves: so she came, and hath continued even from the morning until now, that she tarried a little in the house. Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter? Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens: [Let] thine eyes [be] on the field that they do reap, and go thou after them: have I not charged the young men that they shall not touch thee? and when thou art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of [that] which the young men have drawn. Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I [am] a stranger? And Boaz answered and said unto her, It hath fully been shewed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and [how] thou hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore. The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust. Then she said, Let me find favour in thy sight, my lord; for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou hast spoken friendly unto thine handmaid, though I be not like unto one of thine handmaidens. And Boaz said unto her, At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers: and he reached her parched [corn,] and she did eat, and was sufficed, and left. And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her
not: And let fall also [some] of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave [them,] that she may glean [them,] and rebuke her not. So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley. And she took [it] up, and went into the city: and her mother in law saw what she had gleaned: and she brought forth, and gave to her that she had reserved after she was sufficed". – Ruth 2:5-18
Gratitude Brings Prosperity
For us to be able to appreciate what we are talking about from the text we have read, it would be important for us to understand the practice in Israel at the time this account was recorded. And that practice, we can get from the book of Deut. 24:19-22.
As we have seen, God instituted a Godly welfare system for His people in Israel. The welfare package God instituted was a welfare package that encourages you to do some work because according to the word of God, if you do not work, you cannot eat.
Now in this instant case, we saw that Boaz added something to Ruth’s statutory entitlement. Boaz added something to the leftover that Ruth was ordinarily entitled to. Boaz added water from the well and also advises her that she should not go outside his field to clean and gather the leftovers. Sermon with Bible Verses on His Wish, My Command
As for the leftover, it was God that commanded it. It was a commandment that every Jew was to obey. So the only thing Boaz did extra was to give Ruth water and the freedom to remain within his field throughout that harvest period. That was an act of kindness. That was a kind gesture that Ruth was grateful to. And how did she express her gratitude? That we can see in Ruth 2:10.
The Bible say Ruth fell at his feet. That was an act of humility showing her gratitude. She did not just say thank you, she fell to the ground at his feet and began to thank him specially and Boaz was taken aback. Boaz probably asked himself, “What have I done to deserve this kind of thank you?” But before we come to a response from Boaz, let me ask, “Is it not possible that many of us take what we considered as little tender mercies of God for granted?”
You know when I told us that whenever it is our birthday, most of us look forward to receiving gifts from man and from God. And we don’t even recognise that we should appreciate the God that has even given us life. We tend to commercialize everything that is about us including what we cannot even give like being healthy is a tender mercy from God. Remaining alive is a tender mercy from God. Your wedding or your marriage surviving year after year is a tender mercy from God. So we must come to the point where we would not only be telling God to give me this, give me that. Let’s also come to the point where we think of what to give to God, how to appreciate God and how to show God that we are grateful.
Thanking God for our children. Your child has passed his exams and is promoted from one class to another. Do you realise it is something worthy of thanksgiving? If your wife has given birth successfully, it is worthy of thanksgiving. But many of us don’t even remember the God that has made it possible. We only think of what we can get for ourselves. Boaz was challenged; Boaz was touched by Ruth’s grateful heart. Even when you are in a situation where you seem to be at a disadvantage I want you to look around you, you will see what you can thank God for.
I was touched a few days ago by a sister. This sister’s only son was hospitalized. He was battling practically for his life. Some vital internal organs were compromised and this young man was in the hospital. When I called her to ask how the young boy was faring, I was challenged by her grateful heart. She was telling me to thank God because it could have been worth it. She began to mention the things that God did even in that terrible situation.
The doctors have told her that the son’s calcium level was very low. Do you know that even at that point, she was thanking God that the child did not break any bone? She said, “Thank God that this child did not break any bone because with this type of calcium level if he had broken a bone it would have practically been impossible for the bone to heal”. She saw something to thank God for. That was a right heart.
Many of us would have been there lamenting and crying. Many would have been bitter about why the only child surviving has this type of problem. Nobody would have seen even the little tender mercies of God but that sister saw all and was grateful and I was challenged. It was after I finished with her in that telephone conversation I resolved to prepare this message.
I now saw how God can prosper someone through the right heart of gratitude. Do you know what that sister has done for herself through being grateful? She is not been under stress. She is not fearful. She is not dying a thousand times before her time just because she has a right heart. It helped her to have faith in God. You see, through a heart of gratitude, she has built up her faith.
Now let us see how Boaz reacted to Ruth’s heart of gratitude when Ruth did what she did. Let us look at Ruth 2:11-12. That was a blessing. Boaz began to bless her. Remember that when Boaz saw her the first time, Boaz did not give this blessing. He merely offered her water which many people will take with a casual thank you. Some may not even border to thank you. But when she was grateful, now Boaz began to bless her.
Now look at Ruth 2:13. The moment Boaz said, “May God bless you”, she again responded with another heart of gratitude. “You have spoken so kindly even when I didn’t deserve it”. She was grateful. Let us look at Ruth 2:14. At mealtime, Boaz called her which was unexpected and Boaz said come over here and help yourself to some food. You can dip your bread in soft wine. So she sat with his harvesters. Boaz gave her some roasted grain to eat. She ate all she wanted and still have some leftovers. Did you see a promotion?
This was somebody that came to gather leftovers. Now God has promoted her where she herself now is having leftovers. What did she do? She showed gratitude. She was grateful to God. She was grateful but some of us we are not grateful for the work we are having. We are grumbling. Every day you go to work you say this nonsense work self I am just managing it. You receive your salary you just look at it, “This yeye salary self wetin him go fit do for me”. No single gratitude. Meanwhile, there are some people who are praying to have anything that will take them out of the house every day. When you thank God for little things, God will give you greater things.
Boaz only gave her water but because of her gratitude, during meal time, Boaz now said come and sit down with us. We are no more going to treat you like a beggar because that was the treatment she was entitled to literally she was to be treated like a beggar to gather the leftovers. Say come and sit with us, eat with us so you wouldn’t wait until we finished eating then you come and take the leftovers no eat with us. So she was part of the table, she ate, she took her own portion and after eating, she herself now had leftovers.
Now let us continue, Ruth 2:15. At the end of the day, Boaz ordered his young men. Let her gather grain right among the sheep without stopping her. That is another promotion. Before now, she was entitled to gather the ones that dropped on the ground but now, look at the promotion. Boaz said she doesn’t need to be roaming down the fields gathering from the dust and under the sun. You men go and bring everything, put it in the warehouse and open the door of the warehouse for her. Let her go and collect from the warehouse without money.
There is somebody here, the Lord this year will give you a vineyard you did not plan and will drink from the well you did not dig. When you can walk into a warehouse and take what you want even without payment. That is a blessing. Ordinarily, she was entitled to leftovers but because of her heart of gratitude now her position has changed. So we can see how gratitude has brought prosperity to Ruth and what happened to Ruth is a universal principle. She barely applied it and it worked for her. If you also applied it, it will work for you. Ruth was promoted from being a cleaner to being a reaper of sheep. She was promoted even to the owner of the fields. Did you notice that from coming and gathering the leftovers in my field; Ruth became the owner of those fields because Boaz eventually married her? How did that come about, through the heart of gratitude?
A message preached by Pastor Sonny Wogu.
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