“At this they wept aloud again. Then Oprah kissed her mother-in law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.”
At some point in your life, you will have to make critical decisions. The kind of decisions that will most likely affect your future. Here we find the story of Ruth, a Moabite women who married into a family from Bethlehem that was living in Moab. Naomi, the mother, was married before they came to Moab and her two sons found wives in Moab. Everything all was good and happy. However, Naomi’s husband soon dies and both her sons die shortly after they get established in Moab. Now Naomi is by herself in a foreign country and makes the decision to go back to Bethlehem to her people and live out the remainder of her life as a widow. She tells her two daughters in law to stay in Moab and find other husbands. Then we come to verse 14 where Oprah, Ruth’s sister in law, makes the decision to stay and Ruth makes the decision to go with Naomi back to Bethlehem. We don’t hear from Oprah again until she appears on a talk show in 90’s. Ruth remains with Naomi and the two go back to Bethlehem. A couple of factors enter into the equation now.
1. Ruth lost her husband and could of stayed in her homeland to find another one.
2. There was no certainty about moving to Bethlehem, she was a foreigner.
3. Naomi was not her birth family but was an in-law.
4. She would be moving into a foreign land acting and treated like a foreigner.
Ruth’s story here is a real hard one to digest. On one hand she could of stayed in Moab and lived a good life probably finding another husband and having kids. On the other hand Naomi, her mother in law, loved her dearly but if she went with her she would not be a welcome guest but a foreigner.
Today, life may make you choose between easy and hard. Between what you understand completely and what you cannot begin to understand. Between the comfort of family and a completely new beginning. In verse 16 Ruth says to Naomi, “Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay” cementing the reality that Ruth will not be leaving Naomi. Jesus is saying the same thing to us, He will never leave us nor forsake us. He promises to be there in the beginning, middle and end of whatever comes our way. The Bible is his book of instructions and also your bedtime story book when you need some comfort. It is hard to walk with God and not know His word. We all need to realize Jesus is our Ruth; a friend in middle of the struggle. Today, spend some time talking to Jesus in prayer. Don’t give the silent treatment to Jesus, He is for you not against you. It says in Revelation 3:20, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” Ruth ends up being a huge blessing to Naomi and she is in the divine line of people that led up the birth of Jesus. Jesus chose you when he died on the cross and is asking all of us to follow Him answering the question, “What do I do now?”
Let It Go 
Leave a comment