“And at mealtime Boaz said to her, ‘Come here and eat some bread and dip your morsel in the wine.’ So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her roasted grain. And she ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over.” (Ruth 2:14 ESV).

For some time Ruth had been taking care of her bitter ole mother-in-law, and in our text she is now in Boaz’s field gleaning from his barley harvest. She had been working all day long with little rest, and now it was time to eat. Like any of us would have been Ruth is hungry from all of her hard work. She sits down at the table with Boaz and all of his workers and eats all the food she wants until she can’t eat any more. She even has enough left over to take back to Naomi! First off it was a big deal that Boaz allowed Ruth “the Moabite” to sit at his table because by doing so he was saying to her and the rest of his people, “I see you as one of mine.” But secondly, she goes from a traveling, sojourning stranger in Israel, to an accepted Moabite at the table of Boaz, eating enough to satisfy her, and then some! She left the table lacking nothing. She was completely and graciously filled.

In John 6 Jesus is talking with a crowd of people who are looking for a sign in order to believe Jesus in the messiah, and he tells them in verse 35: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” By making this statement Jesus is saying that He is the life-sustainer, the one who satisfies hungry people completely. He is not talking about physical hunger, but rather spiritual and emotional cravings that we so often seek elsewhere.

Many times in our everyday life we look for so much to satisfy our deepest longings. As imperfect beings we look to things other than Christ to satisfy those. Ruth came to Boaz (the picture of Christ in that text) and ate at his table until she was satisfied, Jesus looks at those seeking a sign and tells them that anyone who comes to Him will never hunger or thirst again. Jesus is simply saying, “You want to be accepted? Come to me.” “You seek approval from everyone; instead come to me, and based on who I am I’ll approve you.” “You long for emotional stability; I alone give that freely to those who ask.”

Whatever it is today you seek to satisfy the longings in your life; maybe it’s your job, your family, or some hobbies. I encourage you to instead go to the ultimate and complete satisfier of all your longings, The Lord Jesus Christ.