UNFALTERING LOYALTY

Suggested Reading: Ruth 1

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: For Naomi, it was an act of kindness. Her husband and sons were dead. She was moving to a land with which the women were unfamiliar. It was a bitter pill for her to swallow, and Naomi's kind heart couldn't bear to ask her daughters-in-law to share it. After many tears, Oprah went back to her family, but Ruth refused to leave. Her words are some of the most beautiful in the whole of scripture, often heard at weddings today:

"Do not ask me to leave you or return and not follow you.
For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you live, I will live.
Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God."

How many of us would have the bravery of Ruth? How often do we see loyalty like this today? So often friendships are fickle. We are happy to stick with our friends in the good times, but when trouble comes, we just pull away. At least in Western society, this has almost become the norm.

Neither Ruth nor Naomi knew what would happen to them during their journey, but Ruth's fondness and love for her mother-in-law wouldn't allow her to turn away, when she knew she was needed. In the end, God blessed Ruth with a new husband and both women with a wonderful new life. He promises to do the same for us, if we just stick with him through good times and bad.

Prayer: Oh Lord, help my loyalty to you never to falter in a world of declining loyalties. Let me return your loyalty with deep devotion to you. Amen.