Day 17 | Ruth

Read Ruth 1:1-5; 4:13-22

Ruth was a Moabite woman married to an Ephrathite man. The man and his family moved to Moab from Bethlehem in Judah, where Ruth lived. Several years after moving to Moab, Ruth’s husband, father-in-law, and brother-in-law died, leaving behind Ruth, her sister-in-law, Orpah, and her mother-in-law, Naomi. Ruth and Naomi, both now widows, stayed together and traveled back to Judah.

Instead of returning to her own father and mother, Ruth became like a daughter to Naomi and stayed by her side caring for her. Ruth was a woman of faithfulness and obedience. Even in the tragic loss of her husband, she was showing loyalty to those she loved. Returning to her own mother may have been the easy or comfortable thing for Ruth, but she chose loyalty over comfort and followed Naomi to Bethlehem in Judah.
In Judah, while collecting grain for herself and Naomi, Ruth met a wealthy man named Boaz. Boaz was related to Ruth’s father-in-law, Elimelech. When Boaz met her, he told her he had heard of her faithfulness to Naomi, and he wanted to reward her by showing her favor and taking care of her. Boaz and Ruth later married and gave birth to a son.

Just like Ruth, many of us face tragedy in which we have a choice to stay faithful to the Lord and what He has called us into or to walk in self-comfort. When we are drowning in doubt or anxiety, do we run to the Prince of Peace, or do we sit in self-pity and fear? When we lose someone we love, do we doubt the Lord’s goodness or trust in his faithfulness? When everything in our culture tells us to follow our hearts by fulfilling our own desires, we will miss our assignment as followers of Christ if we are not careful. God always proves Himself to be faithful, and if we do not choose to be faithful to Him, we will miss an infinite amount of blessings.

Pray for 10 minutes