I Love Ruthie

By Barb Tousley

Barb Tousley is a charter member of Community Church and one of the featured blog writers for Peak Reflections. Barb has a heart for discipleship and posts messages that help us cultivate spiritual maturity and intimacy with God.

“I Love Ruthie,” proclaims the title page of a children's picture book in the MPCC Library. After examining anew the many-faceted love story recounted in the Old Testament book of Ruth, I must echo those sentiments.

Whenever we delve into scripture, we must ascend three steps to truth:

(1) What does it say? (2) What does it mean? and (3) What does it mean to me, in the context of my life?

And so it is with this rare and beautiful account of a bereft widow; her lovely, loyal daughter-in-law; and a godly, generous kinsman. As I curled up by the fire and immersed myself in the familiar tale of a remarkable young woman, God (Who knows me better than anyone else) refused to let me simply relax and enjoy. Instead, as He so often does, my Heavenly Father set me squarely on Step 3 (above), and presented me with four inescapable challenges straight out of the sweet story of Ruth. Perhaps you will join me and find yourself challenged, as well.

But first, some background: the family of Elimelech and Naomi, devout Jews, fled famine in Bethlehem to seek sustenance in idolatrous Moab. During their tenure there, both sons married Moabite wives. Tragedy befell the sons and all three women were widowed. When news reached them that the famine had ended in Bethlehem, Naomi decided to return home. Though she released her daughters-in-law to return to their families, Ruth made a determined choice: "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 2:16.)

Challenge #1: Ruth was a Moabite, raised in the prejudices of her idolatrous nation. What did she experience during her years in Naomi's household that planted in her heart the desire to follow the one true God? What treasure did she glimpse that made her willing to leave behind all she had ever known? Does my household witness to the richness of the Christian life in a way that gives those who live here and those who are just passing through the desire to know my Savior? Does my life, lived out before them, speak of the Holy Spirit within me?

Challenge #2: During the difficult journey back to Bethlehem and the abject poverty the two women faced there, Ruth’s selfless words must have been a constant source of strength and encouragement to the aging Naomi. Words are powerful. Words matter. Words can build up or destroy. How often have I missed the opportunity to be the voice of encouragement to someone whose life touches mine, even for a few moments?...a hard-working waitress…a discouraged student…an elderly widow facing loneliness and ill-health…a single Mom recovering from betrayal and facing the urgent necessity to provide for her family? Words can be instruments of blessing.

Challenge #3: Ruth wrapped her heart around a new faith in the God of Israel. This faith fueled her stubborn loyalty to her mother-in-law, sustained her persistent courage in the face of difficulties, humbled her before the kindly Boaz, and found her obedient to Naomi’s instructions – instructions that amounted to a proposal of marriage! Loyalty. Courage. Humility. Obedience. Has my faith of many years maintained intensity like this? Or have the comforts of its sustenance allowed the distractions of everyday life to blur my single-minded focus on the presence and power and purposes of God?

Challenge #4: “And they all lived happily ever after.” Doesn’t every love story end this way? But in the love story recounted in Ruth, this is only the beginning. The marriage of Boaz and Ruth fills Naomi’s life with richness once again when Ruth gives birth to a son, Obed. Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of David, the ancestor of “Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.” (Matthew 1:16.) Could Ruth possibly have foreseen how God’s purposes would be worked out through her in generations to come? We can never see the ultimate result of a life surrendered to God. Will God find me willing, in spite of a vision limited to the here-and-now, to live day-by-day in obedience to His word and His will? And to trust that He is working His purpose out – a purpose I may never live to see?

Oh, yes – “I Love Ruthie!” The small part of Ruth’s life preserved in scripture provides enough challenge to last a lifetime!