Ruth 1:16-17 But Ruth said, "Don't force me to leave you; don't make me go home. Where you go, I go; and where you live, I'll live. Your people are my people, your God is my god; where you die, I'll die, and that's where I'll be buried, so help me God—not even death itself is going to come between us!"
I was reading the first chapter of the book of Ruth yesterday. It's an interesting family story with a very sad beginning. Ruth and her sister-in-law, Orpah, were young widows. Their mother-in-law Naomi was also a widow. Naomi and her family had moved to Moab from Israel (Bethlehem) years before and so neither Ruth nor Orpah knew of the Israelites' God before marrying into the family (they were local girls from Moab). At a certain point, Naomi decided it was time to head back to her roots in Israel. She discouraged the girls from following her with a very convincing argument: after all they had much more chance of remarrying within their culture in Moab, where they were well known and accepted, than if they followed her to Bethlehem. Orpah saw the logic in this right away and after kissing her mother in law goodbye, she headed back to her Moabite family. Ruth turned out to be more illogical. Somehow, after living with Naomi for ten years or so, Ruth had developed a heart attraction for her mother-in-law that was directly interwoven with Naomi's sincere walk with God. She had seen how Naomi had conducted herself with courage and faith while living in a totally foreign culture without the protection or companionship of a husband and she had realized that God is a real person who can be known and depended on. When forced to choose between her familiar Moabite culture, that didn't include God, and the foreign Israelite culture, that did include God, she chose God. I believe this is a perfect picture of faith. A miracle takes place when we really see the living God in another person's life and we decide that knowing the same God they know is the most important thing we can do, no matter how illogical it may look to others.
As Ruth said in the quote above, when you come to know God, "not even death" can separate you from those you love in the Lord, or from God, Himself. In the Lord our journey begins here and continues, forever, in Heaven.
blessings,
Rob Smith
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