Spend time in prayer and silence with God asking him to meet you and speak to you.
Bible Reading
But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands?
Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.” Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.
And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you 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 will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.
– Ruth 1:8-17
Devotion
Jesus taught that, “in this world, there will be trouble” (John 16:33). Most people don’t have to wait very long to experience the fulfillment of this in their own lives. Naomi had experienced trouble through the death of her husband and sons. She attempted to send her daughter-in-laws away to marry others, but Ruth clung to her.
What is it that Ruth saw in Naomi? This woman had no means to care for herself or any inheritance to speak of, would likely be a burden to her in the long run as she aged, and may have prevented her from pursuing a new husband, and yet Ruth would not leave her side. Why?
Ruth must have seen something deeper in the life of Naomi to say “your people shall be my people, and your God shall be my God”. When Ruth, a pagan Moabite, encountered the people of God and the one true God, she did not want anything less regardless of where that took her or what circumstances she would encounter. She rejected her own gods and nation to pursue this.
The Big Question
Does your life exemplify Godly characteristics that others would desire? Are you willing to follow Christ regardless of where it takes you or what circumstances you may encounter?
Conclude in prayer and silence reflecting on what you’ve learned.