Ruth

My grandmother came up with a Bible character for each of her grandchildren.  I am not sure what her reasoning was behind which grandchild she paired with which Bible character, but she always called me her "Ruth." 

It just so happens that in my devotions last night, I read some of the story of Ruth.  I have probably read it a hundred times.  But last night I noticed something that I never had before.

When Naomi and her husband Elimelech moved to Moab, their sons married Moabite women, Ruth and Orpah.  In their culture at that time, marriage meant that the woman took on more than just her husband's last name. She claimed his family as her own, his religion as her own, and his homeland as her own.  She left the "old" her behind, and began a new life with her husband.  When Ruth married, she took on the God that her husband claimed.  She began life in relationship with her new husband, and most importantly, with GOD.  This new relationship with God did not protect Ruth from heartache and tragedy.  After being married for only ten years, Ruth and Orpah's husbands died.  When their husbands died, Ruth and Orpah had a choice to make.  When they were at their weakest, Naomi, their new mother, gave them a choice.  In Ruth 1:8, Naomi said this to her daughters-in-law:

“Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the LORD show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me."

In the middle of their heartbreak, they had a choice to make.  They could return to their own lives, and their old selves, or they could continue down a new path with Naomi.

The more logical choice would have been to return to their homeland, their own families.  Orpah did this.  And we do not hear anything else about her.  Maybe her life was fine after this point.  But we will never know, because her remarkable story ends there.


Ruth chose the path of her new life, with her new God.  And she became a wonderful example of righteousness.  The EASY thing would have been for her to return to her comfort zone.  But when we have an encounter with God, it should change the paths we choose.  It should change the way we live.  It should change the way we look, act, talk, dress, eat, work.  It should change everything about us.  Everything.  In order to experience the fullness of God in our lives, we MUST leave our comfort zones.  We must leave our old selves behind, and claim HIM.