Ruth 1:16–17: “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.’”

May 6th, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

This verse probably sounds familiar to many people because it’s often used in wedding ceremonies, which is a little humorous when we see that it was spoken by a daughter-in-law to her mother-in-law. But it is certainly a sweeping and beautiful statement of commitment, especially since it’s also an oath of fidelity to the living God. Ruth says that Naomi’s God will be her God, affirming Ruth’s faith in God and her surrender to His sovereignty.

The second verse is an even stronger statement of commitment as it includes a promise to stay with Naomi until her death. This young Gentile woman was determined to care for her mother-in-law. In effect, Ruth was forsaking all that she had ever known to follow the one true God. You might say she was following in the footsteps of Abraham who had also forsaken his family and homeland to be obedient to God’s command.

Someone said that life is not made by the dreams a person dreams but by the choices a person makes. Ruth was choosing to follow the God of Naomi because Naomi had been such a consistent witness of God to her. It had been more than just a witness of the lips. It had been a witness of a life lived out with honesty before her Gentile daughter-in-law.

Ruth called on the covenant name of God, LORD, which makes Ruth a good example of someone in the Old Testament totally surrendering to God and starting over, even when it wasn’t easy. Ruth was surrendering to and expecting good things from God, and her faith was rewarded. Ruth became the great-grandmother to King David in the line of the Messiah. Surrender. Commitment. Faithfulness. God will honor our prayers and desires to serve Him by giving us the grace to live out the commitments we make.

“LORD, fill us, use us, and transform us again we ask, in Jesus’ name.”

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Ruth 1 KJV

¹ Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Beth-lehem-judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons. ² And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Beth-lehem-judah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there. ³ And Elimelech Naomi’s husband died; and she was left, and her two sons. ⁴ And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years. ⁵ And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband. ⁶ Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the LORD had visited his people in giving them bread. ⁷ Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters in law with her; and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah. ⁸ And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, Go, return each to her mother’s house: the LORDdeal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me. ⁹ The LORD grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept. ¹⁰ And they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto thy people. ¹¹ And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with me? are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? ¹² Turn again, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have an husband. If I should say, I have hope, if I should have an husband also to night, and should also bear sons; ¹³ Would ye tarry for them till they were grown? would ye stay for them from having husbands? nay, my daughters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD is gone out against me. ¹⁴And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her. ¹⁵ And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law. ¹⁶ And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: ¹⁷ Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me. ¹⁸ When she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her.  ¹⁹ So they two went until they came to Beth-lehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Beth-lehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi? ²⁰And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. ²¹ I went out full, and the LORD hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the LORD hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me? ²² So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Beth-lehem in the beginning of barley harvest.