By. Pastor Bill
“Oprah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.” Ruth 1:14
When Julius Caesar landed on the shores of Britain with his Roman legions, he took a bold and decisive step to ensure the success of his military venture. Ordering his men to march to the edge of the Cliffs of Dover, he commanded them to look down at the water below. To their amazement, they saw every ship in which they had crossed the channel engulfed in flames. Caesar had deliberately cut off any possibility of retreat. Now that his soldiers were unable to return to the continent, there was nothing left for them to do but to advance and conquer! And that is exactly what they did.
In this well-told story of the Moabitess Ruth, and her backslidden mother in law Naomi Ruth shows TRUE CONSISTENT COMMITMENT. As Naomi returned to Bethlehem, there is a contrast between Oprah and Ruth and how they responded to Naomi initially and what they ended up doing eventually.
One was filled with emotion and tears but in the end went back to the idols of her past, while Ruth, without much pomp and circumstance CLUNG TO NAOMI.
The word “clung” in Hebrew is “dabaq” and means to cling, stick and stay close to, cleave and to join to. Are you clinging to Jesus today? Do you talk a big game but in the end fade back to your old ways? (Further reading John 15/Matthew 21:28-31).
Ruth saw in her mother-in-law even in her compromised state the life of God and wanted to follow the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and therefore stuck with Naomi following her all the way back to Bethlehem. What about you? Is it still a great privilege to you to serve the Lord? To know Him? Are you one that has a quiet commitment to Christ or who talks big but when things get tough slides back? Stay the course, burn the boats that would take you back to your old ways and follow Jesus all the way to heaven. In Jesus name!
By His Spirit,
Pastor Bill