What Would That Look Like?

But Ruth replied, “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!” [Ruth 1.16-17]

Talk about commitment!

Family dynamics are unique to each family. In the case of Elimelech's family, regardless of what Elimelech's and Naomi's relationship was like, regardless what Naomi's and her sons' relationships were like, regardless what Naomi's and Orpah's relationship was like, Naomi had a special relationship with her daughter-in-law Ruth. This relationship is obvious in Ruth's statement documented above.

Commitment is something that is missing in today's society. I don't need to point out how much we change our minds... People today don't seem to stay with anything any more - their churches, their jobs, their spouses, their communities - as their commitment is, shall we say, not so committed.

Even Ruth, in her unintended circumstance, was not so committed to her own family! But she was committed to Naomi.

It is true that there is little worth being committed to today. People today, by and large, are just shells of a life that 'could be' going about in busy-ness only to reach the end of life unfulfilled and incomplete. No wonder people so dread death!

Ruth's example shows us what a changed life in Christ should look like. Regardless where we have come from, our allegiance changes when we come to Christ. And, sometimes coming to Christ does not look like what we thought it would be like! Coming to Christ does not make us sinless and does not exempt us from troubles - but coming to Christ changes our identity and our outlook on what matters and what does not matter!

Interesting. What if we really took our relationship with Jesus as seriously as Ruth took her relationship with Naomi?

What would that look like?

Father, I see that my relationship with Jesus should be obvious - obvious in what I do and where I go - obvious in everything that is 'my life.' Forgive me for wanting to retain my own identity and forgive me for being 'hesitant' when it comes to following Christ.