Week 5
Ruth 1: 16-17
"But Ruth said, 'do not urge me to leave your or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May The Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you'."
If you look at the previous verses in this chapter you will see that Naomi had a husband and 2 sons. Her husband died and left her a widow. Then her sons married Ruth and Orpah and later her sons died as well leaving her with two daughters-in-law. The three of them started a journey to Moab where they heard there was food since at this time there was a drought in their land. Right before verse 16 Naomi had told Ruth and Orpah that they should stop journeying with her and return back to their home land where they would be able to find a new husband. In my opinion, she told them that staying with her would do them no good since she was old, widowed, and had no sons. Orpah did as Naomi had instructed but Ruth had different plans.
So now in verse 16 we see that Ruth begins to tell Naomi her vision. It makes me think of what I have heard my mom say ever since my first boyfriend. "You don't just marry the person you marry the whole family" is what she would constantly say. I see from these verses that Ruth truly married the family. Even though her husband died who she was committed to for life, she still was committed to the family, her mother-in-law, once he died.
Ruth was committed to follow Naomi where ever she went; if she moved to a different land, Ruth would follow. Ruth was committed to live wherever Naomi lived. She was committed to the people that Naomi called her people; she would not do things outside their traditions or be rebellious to their ways. Ruth said that since Naomi served God, she would also serve God and be committed to him. Ruth was even committed to die in the land that Naomi dies in and would also be buried there. But not only did she make this commitment to Naomi, she made a promise with the Lord in the second part of verse 17.
I could not help but marvel at how committed Ruth was to Naomi as I read this passage today. I'm not married and therefore have no commitment to a husband to keep but am I committed to the Lord as Ruth was committed to Naomi. I think of the song that says, "where you go I'll go, where you stay I'll stay. When you move I'll move, I will follow you." God lead me to Potter's Field IGNITE program and I moved first to Guatemala and now to Kenya as he lead me to these locations. It would be easy to sit back and say yes, I am committed to God like Ruth was to Naomi. But I started thinking a little deeper about my commitment to God.
When I gave my life to Jesus, I made a lifelong commitment to bring glory to his name in everything I do and say. He expects me to follow him and meet with him. Thinking back to the song and to the scripture for today, I ask the question, "how does this look in my life each day". I followed him to Kenya but my commitment doesn't stop now. Do I go every where he leads me to go each day? Am I sensitive to the Holy Spirit who may be telling me to go talk to a child or an adult that is basically right in front of me? When the Lord places someone on my mind am I committed to stop and pray in that very moment for that person or do I tell him later? How committed am I to the Lord and to do his service each and everyday even if it's not what I thought serving would look like that day? How committed are you to the Lord and doing his service each and everyday even if it's not what you thought serving the Lord was going to look like that day?
As we read 1 Corinthians 12 yesterday preparing for kids club this Saturday, I was reminded that even if you feel like you are making no difference, you are needed. The body of Christ needs each and every member. So maybe the only service I do one day is praying for people, it seems small but if I am not committed to the Lord, I will not be willing to do that small tasks that in the end can make such a huge difference. Today, I am going to look and be open to the small things that I can do to serve the Lord and have "committed" written on my hand as a reminder to whom I am committed serve.
Ruth 1: 16-17
"But Ruth said, 'do not urge me to leave your or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May The Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you'."
If you look at the previous verses in this chapter you will see that Naomi had a husband and 2 sons. Her husband died and left her a widow. Then her sons married Ruth and Orpah and later her sons died as well leaving her with two daughters-in-law. The three of them started a journey to Moab where they heard there was food since at this time there was a drought in their land. Right before verse 16 Naomi had told Ruth and Orpah that they should stop journeying with her and return back to their home land where they would be able to find a new husband. In my opinion, she told them that staying with her would do them no good since she was old, widowed, and had no sons. Orpah did as Naomi had instructed but Ruth had different plans.
So now in verse 16 we see that Ruth begins to tell Naomi her vision. It makes me think of what I have heard my mom say ever since my first boyfriend. "You don't just marry the person you marry the whole family" is what she would constantly say. I see from these verses that Ruth truly married the family. Even though her husband died who she was committed to for life, she still was committed to the family, her mother-in-law, once he died.
Ruth was committed to follow Naomi where ever she went; if she moved to a different land, Ruth would follow. Ruth was committed to live wherever Naomi lived. She was committed to the people that Naomi called her people; she would not do things outside their traditions or be rebellious to their ways. Ruth said that since Naomi served God, she would also serve God and be committed to him. Ruth was even committed to die in the land that Naomi dies in and would also be buried there. But not only did she make this commitment to Naomi, she made a promise with the Lord in the second part of verse 17.
I could not help but marvel at how committed Ruth was to Naomi as I read this passage today. I'm not married and therefore have no commitment to a husband to keep but am I committed to the Lord as Ruth was committed to Naomi. I think of the song that says, "where you go I'll go, where you stay I'll stay. When you move I'll move, I will follow you." God lead me to Potter's Field IGNITE program and I moved first to Guatemala and now to Kenya as he lead me to these locations. It would be easy to sit back and say yes, I am committed to God like Ruth was to Naomi. But I started thinking a little deeper about my commitment to God.
When I gave my life to Jesus, I made a lifelong commitment to bring glory to his name in everything I do and say. He expects me to follow him and meet with him. Thinking back to the song and to the scripture for today, I ask the question, "how does this look in my life each day". I followed him to Kenya but my commitment doesn't stop now. Do I go every where he leads me to go each day? Am I sensitive to the Holy Spirit who may be telling me to go talk to a child or an adult that is basically right in front of me? When the Lord places someone on my mind am I committed to stop and pray in that very moment for that person or do I tell him later? How committed am I to the Lord and to do his service each and everyday even if it's not what I thought serving would look like that day? How committed are you to the Lord and doing his service each and everyday even if it's not what you thought serving the Lord was going to look like that day?
As we read 1 Corinthians 12 yesterday preparing for kids club this Saturday, I was reminded that even if you feel like you are making no difference, you are needed. The body of Christ needs each and every member. So maybe the only service I do one day is praying for people, it seems small but if I am not committed to the Lord, I will not be willing to do that small tasks that in the end can make such a huge difference. Today, I am going to look and be open to the small things that I can do to serve the Lord and have "committed" written on my hand as a reminder to whom I am committed serve.
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