“But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?” Ruth 1:11 (NKJV)
Picking up the story where we left off yesterday, Naomi tells both young women to return to their homes. She doesn’t have any more sons for them to marry and have children by. Naomi seems to want the best for these two young ladies who have loved her sons.
After a mild protest, Orpah says goodbye to Naomi and Ruth. She leaves to return to her family. Naomi turns to Ruth and spells out what Orpah has returned to: her family and her gods. She then asks Ruth to also return to her family.
Ruth’s response is one of the Bible texts that many have memorized because it was the ultimate response for someone who was very comfortable with leaving the way of life that her family had embraced for all of her life, but that she was no longer willing to go along with.
” 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.” Ruth 1:16-17 (NKJV)
How willing am I to turn my back on family, country, and religion for the sake of following a new “God?” That’s something I need to evaluate each day.
Listen to Chris Tomlin as he sings “I Will Follow.”
Published on MyBibleRoom.com 2/1/25, 6:00 am