Ruth 1:16-17, “And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.”
In Ruth’s first chapter, the daughters-in-law of Naomi stand at a crossroads. Their husbands are dead, as is their father-in-law. These hard losses have caused their mother-in-law to be embittered. Words rooted in bitterness always bite, even if they are well intended. As Naomi journeyed to Judah, she counseled Orpah and Ruth to turn back to Moab. She was now old and childless with nothing to offer the young ladies.
Despite her intentions, it was horrendous counsel to encourage her daughters-in-law to return to full blown idolatry. Being a young widow in Judah following the One True God would be better and kinder than finding an idolatrous husband and raising pagans in Moab. In that moment, it looked as if those were the only two options.
Orpah made the seemingly sensible and pragmatic decision. She returned home and started over. Ruth made the seemingly senseless and unrealistic decision. She chose to abandon the known for the unknown, to forsake the familiar for the unfamiliar. Ruth forfeited the prospect of marriage to cling to her seemingly hopeless mother-in-law, but she was not making this decision for sentimental, emotional reasons. Think not that Ruth was looking for adventure, having grown tired with the landscape of Moab and desired to see the world. This young woman knew that to go back down that road to Moab was to return to gods which were worthless. Ruth was determined to follow the Truth.
The resolve of Ruth illustrates the words of Jesus in Luke 14, when He turned to the crowds that were following Him and said, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple” (verses 25-27). Each of us stands daily at the valley of decision. We will die to self, take up our cross, and follow Jesus, or we will not. Has something transpired in your life recently to make your present taste bitter, and your future look hopeless? Learn from Ruth that God is right now at work for you to give you a future and a hope. Trust Him. Be encouraged. Those menacing storm clouds you see are big with mercy and will ultimately break with blessings on your head.
