But Ruth said, "Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God." Ruth 1:16 NRSV
Why was Ruth so attached to Naomi? Why did she want to become, for all intents and purposes, Naomi's adopted daughter? Could it have been out of love?
Sometimes we hear this verse read in a wedding ceremony, but this has nothing to do with marital love.
If something happened (or had happened) to all of your family accept for your in-law, do you (or did you) love them enough to give up everything and go wherever they go?
Although I love my in-laws, I am afraid I am too independent (translation: controlling) for that to be a healthy relationship.
But we know the outcome: Ruth's act of love, above and beyond what was expected of her, ended up producing the man whose heart was after God's own heart: David.
It does take a special heart, a special love, for one's own heart to be after God's heart.
God, you gave up all out of love for us. Can we do no less? In Jesus' name. Amen.
Copyright 2010 Amelia G. Sims
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