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. — Ruth 1:16 – 17
There are many times we make choices in life and we have discussed those throughout our devotional times here. There are some choices that are temporary, but there are other choices that we make which have long-lasting effects. These choices will follow us our entire lives.
Such is the case of Ruth and her relationship with Naomi. Ruth could have easily chosen to return to her people at the urging of Naomi. Yet, we see that Ruth made a choice to stay with Naomi. Her words have been used for many years to signify the deep commitment that she made to Naomi. She said she would go anywhere Naomi went. She would stay anywhere Naomi stayed. Her commitment was even to the people and the God of Naomi. It wasn’t short-term, she said it was to her death.
If you look at the situation that Ruth found herself in, it was a unique circumstance. She had nothing to offer Naomi in regards to things Naomi would have wanted. The only thing she could offer was her commitment and dedication. Naomi didn’t demand Ruth to give up her religion, her people, and her home. Yet, Ruth was so committed to Naomi that she was willing to give up everything.
As Christians, we can no doubt take the example of Ruth and Naomi and find a similar situation in our own lives. When we think about our relationship with God, we certainly can see how we were in a similar circumstance. What did we have to offer the God of the universe who created all things? He didn’t force us to accept Jesus Christ as Savior and give up everything in our lives. He gave us the choice.
If we have truly accepted Christ in our lives, our heart’s desire should be similar to that of Ruth. The things we loved before Christ should not outweigh our commitment to Him. We should be willing to give up anything in our lives that may stand in the way of our commitment to Him. Is that the true desire of our hearts? Do we truly desire to be so close to God that we are willing to sacrifice anything that may stand in the way?
Ruth gave us a great example of commitment that we can apply to our spiritual lives and our relationship with God. Our prayer should be that we have that same commitment to God and that God guide us to remove any barriers that may stand in our way.
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