March 31, 2026

Business by the Book

Ruth 2:9 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. 

Protect the weak; Boaz did. He told the young men that worked for him to not even touch Ruth. He knew that she had nothing, no money, no standing in the community, no husband, and no father on the scene. Therefore he set up boundaries that assured her protection. It has always been the responsibility of the strong to protect the weak.

Protecting the weak has a bonus. Not only does the weak party benefit from the protection of someone stronger, the stronger benefits from being strong for the weak. I call this the “protection provision.”    To explain, let me create a word picture.

When the first two of my children were very young, they, my wife, and I were returning home from dinner at a restaurant. In our small town there happened to be one of those carnivals set up on one of the big parking lots. All of those bright lights attacked my small kids like a mosquito to a bright light on a dark night. They just had to go to the carnival. What was a loving dad to do? I took them. After riding all the little kid rides they had their eyes on the big Farris wheel. For some unknown reason, my wife and I agreed. She took our son, and I took our daughter. I gave the attendant the proper amount of tickets and took a seat.

This ride was diabolical. It had not one, but two wheels. While one wheel was being loaded the other wheel was way up in the air going round and round and round. When we were being loaded all was okay. But then the wheel began to move and the entire ride began to move, and the flimsy car (for lack of a better word) began to move. The sensation of the wheel turning while at the same time being raised in the sky moving up and up and up was something I have never experienced. I was scared, but my daughter was petrified. She wanted off that ride, she screamed, cried, shouted, stomped her feet, and held on to me very tightly. She begged for me to make it stop and we were not even to the top of its height yet. About then, I noticed a boy screaming like an entire tribe of the proverbial Indians on the warpath. It was my son.

My wife was doing all that was within her power to calm him down, I was doing the same with my daughter. Neither of us was successful. That ride seemed to last forever. We were way up in the night sky, going round and round while they were loading the other wheel down below. As parents we knew we must try to protect our children’s emotions by containing our own. By being concerned about them, our own fear was greatly diminished.

The “protection provision” means that by doing all that is possible to protect someone weaker, one’s own fears and weaknesses are reduced. Many times when I would travel my wife would experience little fear simply because the kids were in the house. But as they left home and she was alone, she was more afraid in the night. The same is true for me, if there is someone for me to protect, my own fears are lessened.

Twice in the New Testament we are told to support the weak. Boaz did and was blessed. In any and all aspects, when opportunity dictates, support the weak and take notice of the degree that your boldness increases. It will, it’s called the “protection provision.”

Dr. William Howe