Ruth 2:4-6 - While she was there, Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters. “The LORD be with you!” he said. “The LORD bless you!” the harvesters replied. Then Boaz asked his foreman, “Who is that young woman over there? Who does she belong to?” And the foreman replied, “She is the young woman from Moab who came back with Naomi. (NLT)
Devotional Series: Boaz - Tips from a Godly Man
The Bible describes Boaz as a “wealthy and influential man” (Ruth 2:1) yet despite his influence and money, in today's passage we see that Boaz was not far removed from his workers in the field. Boaz was both personable and relatable.
Boaz respected his employees enough to greet them. Despite returning from what may have been a long trip from Bethlehem, Boaz took the time to acknowledge his workers with a blessing from the Lord.
It seems that this might have been habitual as his employees were not shocked or afraid to respond to him. So often in the modern workplace, employees are flabbergasted when their boss interacts with them because it is rare or unusual. Workers are often tongue-tied or silent because they don’t know how to respond.
But not in this case, the laborers knew exactly how to respond to his greeting (Ruth 2:4 - …“The LORD bless you!” the harvesters replied) This points to a habitual, causal, easy relationship between the employer, Boaz, and his employees, the harvesters.
Walking through his field, Boaz noticed that Ruth was in his field for the first time.
Ruth stood out to Boaz, simply because she was new to the field. He knew who his harvesters were and who should be working in the field.
Ruth 2: 5 - Then Boaz asked his foreman, “Who is that young woman over there? Who does she belong to?”
As leaders in the workplace, it is easy for us to become consumed with what we are doing. Often, we are tired or busy and forget to simply say hello or acknowledge the people who work for us. We may overlook greeting a new team member or not notice when someone is missing or unwell. But in Boaz, we see a leader who was on top of this for his workers.
Practically, speaking this may not be possible for CEOs of companies with thousands of employees but we can do our best to at least be mindful of the people working in our vicinity; the people we walk by on our floors, or those we meet in the lift on the way to our desk. Or the security guards or receptionists we see every morning when we walk into the office and every evening when we say our good nights. These are all people we can acknowledge and speak to regularly.
We can be like Boaz, personable, relatable, and notice the people who work both for us and with us.