"Where You go I go
What You say I say God
What You pray I pray
What You pray I pray"
Where You Go, I Go, Bethel Music
Ruth...her story is recorded in the Bible. But, it's more than a story. She is an example. Her faithfulness was so strong, that I believe it shocked people in her life, like Naomi. In the story, Ruth and her sister, Orpah, are the daughters-in-law of Naomi. Not long after the marriage between Ruth and Naomi's son, he dies. His brother dies. His father dies. Now, Ruth, Orpah, and Naomi have been left as widows. Naomi urges Ruth and her sister to leave her and return home to their father, in hopes that they may remarry. Orpah leaves with a kiss, but Ruth's reaction is radically different. She refuses to leave Ruth. She says, "...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." (Ruth 1:16, NIV). This is pure, true faithfulness. Just think--at this time, it would have been insane for Ruth to live as a widow with her mother-in-law. She was young and had opportunity ahead of her. But, she decided to follow Naomi, and more importantly, follow God. She didn't know the end of her story.
This is a beautiful story, and if you have not read it, I greatly encourage you to do so. But, it's more than a recorded event in a young woman's life. It is a picture of what our faithfulness to Jesus Christ should look like. The words "where you go, I'll go, and where you stay, I'll stay" should freely flow from our mouths, in submission to our God. Even when it may seem easier to walk away, maybe the thing we need to do is stay. This is such a beautiful analogy of how we should present ourselves to God: total surrender, complete faithfulness, and unwavering trust.
No one will ever be perfect. We will always have trips and falls, we will often times fail in our lives. But, that doesn't mean we need to leave God. It certainly does not mean He'll leave us. Nothing could ever make Him turn away from us--we must only put our faith in Him. He is capable, merciful, and benevolent. He loves us so much more than we could possibly imagine. I do realize that I say that a lot, but it is the truest thing anyone on this earth could possibly utter.
There is something about Ruth that I find so refreshing, pure, and Christ-like. She is willing to completely submit to the will of God, although she does not yet know how the issues in her life will work out. This picture of total surrender makes me feel as though she let herself belong to Him, and accepted Him as her own. What if we could capture that submission--that true love and trust?
