S118P1 – Loaded statements: Ruth
Ruth 1:16-17
But Ruth said: “Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you; for wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.”
They were beyond excited to have been selected to go to a new land and reach others for Christ. It was the culmination of a life’s work for both of them. Before heading out to this new land, the couple would have to do the work necessary to raise their support, and that included working normal jobs themselves. She took on the task of caring for elderly people in their homes and thought that would allow her to get her evangelistic feet wet, but the agency had strict rules of behavior. Caregivers were not permitted to prosthelytize or raise any issues or questions of faith with their patients. If she was going to reach any of them, it would have to be by simply being an example in her conduct.
Naomi and her family had left Bethlehem due to a famine and settled in Moab, a pagan nation. Her sons both took pagan brides for themselves, easily assimilating to their new surroundings. The deaths of Naomi’s husband and sons left her alone with her daughters-in-law, and she resolved to return to Israel because she had heard of God’s miraculous power of provision being on display there. The fact that Ruth remained with her after being given the option to return to her own family is one thing. Ruth’s resolve not only to remain with Naomi but to follow her God is something more. The pagan girl must have seen something in her Hebrew mother-in-law that drew her in. She had witnessed good living and wanted to have it for herself.
One girl followed Naomi’s instructions to return to her people and her God. The other realized that there was a better way. When Ruth clung to Naomi and uttered these words, I believe she was symbolically clinging to the Lord. Perhaps Naomi’s own courage at being willing to take on this new lonely life by herself was enough to tell Ruth that there was something mightily different about this woman. That is how we should live our Christian lives. Our conduct should speak for itself, for our faith, and for our Lord. Father, let our conduct match our words, that by our actions alone our faith would be clear and draw others to You.