“The LORD bless you, my daughter,” he replied. “You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor.” Ruth 3:10

Ruth had moved the heart of Boaz long before she ever laid herself at his feet. Her reputation was not built overnight; it was the slow, steady accumulation of a life governed by honor. When he discovered her in the quiet darkness of his threshing floor, he was not offended, alarmed, or suspicious. Her history had already spoken for her.

“You have not run after younger men,” he told her. In other words, she did not seize the first opportunity that promised relief. She refused false rescue. She resisted the easy answers that would have soothed for a moment and shattered for a lifetime. She bore her sorrow with steadfast trust, allowing God to script the redemption she could not manufacture.  Her faith was expressed through integrity.

I wish I could say the same of myself. But I know what it is to run after substitutes. I know how appealing they feel in the moment — how they offer the illusion of relief while quietly hollowing out the soul.

Sometimes my counterfeit was a person. When I encountered someone radiant with God’s presence, I mistook their nearness for His.  It felt easier to pursue a human reflection than to carve out the time and quiet needed to pursue Christ Himself. It was second-hand spirituality.  It was warm, accessible, and dangerously cheap.

I’ve learned not to take the quick way out. Pain has been a stern teacher, but it has shaped a stronger obedience in me. I know now, deeply and soulfully, that Jesus is the treasure. No human substitute can hold a candle to His presence. No shortcut can rival His wisdom. No counterfeit can satisfy what only redemption can restore.

I am done running after lesser loves.  I run toward You alone.  Amen