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"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)
We all know of Ruth's
response to Naomi, after Naomi's
plea that Ruth go back to her Moabite roots — and her "mother's
house." Ruth's
two-sentence response, captured poetically in Scripture, catapulted both Ruth
and Naomi into a new path that, guided by God, would transform both of their
lives.
Check it out: Naomi really says "go back to your mother's
house — our
first clue that Ruth is very much a woman's
book. And Ruth, with a vision that comes only to the spiritual, sets off with
Naomi for Bethlehem. It is not the only time that Ruth will break new ground;
once in Bethlehem she teams up with Naomi on a plan that eventually brings them
— two women caught in a man's
world — the
security they need.
The story has interesting twists. As the plan unfolds,
Naomi tells Ruth to meet at night with Boaz and "he
will tell you what to do"
(3:4). Yet Ruth takes the initiative and tells Boaz what to do: take on the role
of next-of-kin (verse 9)!
While the women wait patiently for the plan to run its
course, Ruth gleans in the field, providing daily food for them both. Ruth never
gives up on Naomi, even though Naomi told Ruth to call her "bitter"
(Mara), because she felt the Lord had turned against her.
What changes Ruth went through! How easy it would have been
to call herself "bitter,"
too. But, in Christ-like fashion, Ruth sticks with Naomi, no matter what; and
through her marriage and the birth of Obed, Ruth brings new life and breath to
Naomi.
What a model Ruth offers us, when life swirls around us and
we need courage for a new challenge! When we're
tempted to think that changes in life can only undo us. When we need the ears to
hear God calling us.
Prayer
Thank you, Ruth, for being open to God's
promptings. Thank you, God, for giving us a model like Ruth, so that we, too,
can listen for your call in our lives.
Nancy J. Stelling served Women of the ELCA as editor of Lutheran
Woman Today, 1987-2000.
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) Bible,
copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education
of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, and are used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2002 Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America. All rights reserved.
May be reproduced for use in congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America provided the copyright information above appears on every copy
with these words: Used with permission.
For all other purposes
contact Women of the ELCA.
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