Devotion

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." – Ruth 1v16-17

Here we have a passage which is often used at weddings for a wife’s commitment to her husband. Though that is not the Biblical context it does remind us of a character trait that can be so lacking when we focus on self and our own needs.

Naomi with her husband and two sons moved to Maob from Bethlehem. Her sons married Moabite women. Her husband died, then later her two sons. She was left with her daughters-in-law and suggested that they go back home to their families.

We can read this passage and forget the passage of time that takes place. I look at Mary and our two daughters-in-law. I don’t even really like that term because we see them, like our only son-in-law, as our children. In the relatively few short years that they have been a part of our family Mary has grown to love them deeply. If I was to die, and Matt and Jay were our only sons and they died, it would be very hard for Mary to do the right thing and tell Michelle and Holly to go home to their families. Yet that is just what Naomi did. One daughter-in-law did go home, but Ruth replied with the beautiful and now familiar words that we read above.

I am not sure why, but I love this picture of devotion. Ruth, though born in Moab, decided to go back to Bethlehem with Naomi.

What a sweet picture of devotion and dedication. I am not sure I can even make a really spiritual application of this, but I am touched by this young woman’s devotion to her mother-in-law. She was not focused on herself and her own needs, but was concerned about Naomi going back home alone. God would honour her devotion by letting her be the grandmother of King David.