But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried..."
I think it is important to note that in this passage, which is often read at wedding ceremonies, Ruth was not talking to her husband but rather to her mother-in-law, Naomi. Widowed Naomi was heading back to her homeland and urged Ruth, also widowed, to stay where she was, among her own people, and remarry.
Here, though, we see in Ruth one of the qualities that must have drawn Boaz, her second husband, to her. Ruth's statement was one of complete self-sacrifice. She was willing to leave all she knew - her home, her family, her religion, her customs, her friends - to take care of Naomi. She would now be the foreigner, subject to racial prejudices. She was willing to face a life of poverty - for she and Naomi had nothing - and uncertainty. Her life with Naomi would not be easy, for Naomi's life was no longer filled with joy, and she quite possibly was dealing with depression (1:20-21). Ruth knew she would have to work hard to provide for the two of them, and yet she went willingly and with determination.
How tempting it is to take the easy route. We love to stay in our comfort zones rather than risk the unknown. But Ruth sacrificed all that to care for Naomi, not out of obligation (for Naomi had freed her from that, v. 8-9), but out of love.
No comments:
Post a Comment