Ruth 1:16 “But Ruth said, ‘Do not urge me to leave you or turn back 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.”
One of Naomi’s daughters-in-law, Orpah, left her. She decided it wasn’t for her to go with Naomi to the Promised Land! She had promised to come back with Naomi earlier but when she learnt of what it may be like, so she decided to do the 180 degrees and go back to her own people. And sadly this is what happens with many so-called Christians today. They come to the Lord (well, they come to the front of the stage) but where are they a few days later? No one ever sees them again. Or they may stay for a while, springing up quickly like the word says, yet when persecution or hardship comes they leave the faith for a life more comfortable (Matt 13:3-9, 20-21).
But not our Ruth. In Ruth we have an awesome picture of a true conversion. She is an example of a true Bride of Christ. Even when others are leaving around her Ruth states in utter dedication and commitment:
“Do not urge me to leave you or turn back 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 I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me.(Ruth 1:16-17)”
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