Ruth is one of my favorite characters in the Bible. Every time I read her story I discover new things about this dear Lady of Reckless Abandonment.
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But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God” (Ruth 1: 16).
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What a profound statement from Ruth to Naomi, her mother-in law. Today we are taking a trip to meet this wonderful woman. What makes her say such words to Naomi? What did she “taste” to make such a reckless decision to leave her people to follow her mother-in-law to Bethlehem in Judea?
Let us read the Bible to meet these two precious women of Faith.
“In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. 2 The man’s name was Elimelech, his wife’s name Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.
3 Now Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.
When she heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, Naomi and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. 7 With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.
8 Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the Lord show kindness to you, as you have shown to your dead and to me.9 May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.”
Then she kissed them and they wept aloud 10 and said to her, “We will go back with you to your people.”11 But Naomi said, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? 12 Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me—even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons— 13 would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord’s hand has gone out against me!”
14 At this they wept again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-by, but Ruth clung to her. 15 “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.” 16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.” 18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.” Ruth 1:1-18 NIV 1984
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When Ruth married into Naomi’s family, she saw something different about the way this Jewish family lived their life. She must have wondered about these people who were foreigners in their land. They had different gods in Moab and Ruth and her people worshipped them. However, these foreigners worshipped only one God, Jehovah.
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You see Naomi and her family did not leave their God and faith behind when they left Bethlehem in search of food. They did not try to fit in so that the people of Moab would accept them. They didn’t comfort to the ways of the Moabites. They knew that their stay in Moab was temporary and when the famine is over they were going to return home.
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As Naomi spent her time with the two women Orpah and Ruth, she must have told them how God took them out of Egypt to the Promised Land. How God fought their battles as they passed through other countries on their way to the Canaan.
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However, we should note that this family lived in Israel during the time when the Judges ruled. This was a time when people lived as they pleased. They would do all sorts of evil things in the sight of the Lord. God would use other nations to oppress Israel in order to get them on the right track.
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So to have this family to live their faith in such a time as this and in a foreign land for that matter is something to be applauded. Their faith won Ruth’s heart and she didn’t want to stay behind and continue to live a mediocre life. She wanted to go with Naomi so that she could meet this God and know Him the way Naomi knew Him.
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Ruth’s decision to follow Naomi to Bethlehem impacted generations for eternity. Ruth is found in the genealogy list of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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LET’S PRAY
Father, I realize that the time that Naomi and Ruth lived is not different to ours; I pray that as we live this life, we will fearlessly share our faith and let others know whom we serve, the One True God. Like Ruth and Naomi, I want to live my life with reckless abandonment to you. Help me Lord in this decision I have made. In Jesus Name. Amen.
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YOUR ASSIGNMENT:
Answer one, or all, of the following questions below in our comment section:
- If you look at your own life, how are you living your faith?
- Are you living in such a way that someone can leave their lifestyle to follow you?
- What impact am I making for the generations to come?
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