Day 8 - Ruth

Ruth is a short book that is really about one story.  Though it is hailed as a love story (and there's some of that in there), it is much more about the unique relationship between Naomi and her daughter-in-law, Ruth.  A little background...Naomi's husband dies and she's left with her two sons.  They marry women from a neighboring country who end up becoming a part of the family.  After about 10 years, Naomi's sons die.  She prepares to return home to her people and try to put back some of the pieces of her life back together. 

"Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother's home. May the Lord show kindness to you, as you have shown to your dead and to me. May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.” Then she kissed them and they wept aloud and said to her, “We will go back with you to your people.” But Naomi said, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me—even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons— would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord's hand has gone out against me!” At this they wept again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-by, but Ruth clung to her. “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.” But Ruth replied, “Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.”"  -Ruth 1:8-17

This is really a story about mentoring & commitment.  We all need mentors.  Naomi was not just a mother-in-law to Ruth, she was a mentor.  Naomi had been one of the first people to speak truth into Ruth's life, and she wanted to be by her side.  As we grow up, it's easy to begin thinking that we don't need mentors, that we can get by on our own.  That's crazy talk.  We need people in our lives to guide us, mold us, rebuke us and shape us, even as adults.  Maybe more so as adults.  Who is that person for you?  Who speaks truth to you?  Who encourages you and challenges you?  To whom do you go for wisdom and spiritual insight?  If you don't have a mentor...find one.  And, consider who might need you to serve as their mentor.  We need to be doing both.  We need mentors, and we need to mentor others.

The other thing Ruth exhibits is an incredible commitment to Naomi.  Commitment doesn't mean much in our world today.  We have a new motto in our culture.  When the tough get going, we quit.  We move on to try something else.  We quit on teams, quit on jobs and quit on people.  Ruth won't quit.  I believe commitment and dedication are Godly characteristics.  God is committed and dedicated to us.  We mess up.  We sin.  We go against the grain of His will.  Yet, God doesn't give up on us.  He is committed.  I believe when we exemplify commitment to the world, we are being an example of Christ.  And it feels better.  It feels right.  Because that's how God is, and we feel more right when we are more like God.

Find a mentor.  Be a mentor.  Be committed.  Good lessons from Ruth.