Don't press me to leave you...
I realized this morning that as I am putting my devotional book together I have not chosen a verse from the book of Ruth. HOW CRAZY, because Ruth is one of my favorite books in the Bible! Here is the most popular verse from this book:
Ruth 1:16
But Rut said,
“Don’t press me to leave you
and stop following you;
for wherever you go, I will go;
and wherever you stay, I will stay.
Your people will be my people
and your God will be my God. (CJB)
(Rut is the Hebrew version of Ruth)
If you have a knowledge of Jewish history and Romans 11, this verse is key to understanding how Gentiles are grafted in to the ROOT that God established when He chose the Hebrew people to follow Him. There is so much packed into this one verse.
What does it mean, “Your people will be my people?”
What should the words, “Your God will be my God,” really teach us?
As I came into an understanding that Jesus was Jewish, and that He came from the line of David, and that He would have celebrated differently than I grew up thinking He did, my whole life changed. When I realized that the “man” I claimed as my Messiah and Savior was really placed in a Jewish lineage, I knew that I needed to change my thoughts about what I did and what I chose to be a part of. This “man” was God on earth and sent to teach us ALL how to live so we can have LIFE and LIFE more abundant. This is why I choose to celebrate Jewish holidays and Shabbat instead of Easter and Christmas. This is why I desire to understand Israel past, present, and the keys it holds to the future, in the best way that I can.
There is so much we can learn from this little book in the Bible. I have done several studies about the Jewish history that is in these four chapters. Ruth is a true example of someone who gave up all she had to follow the one true God; the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
In Ruth 2:12 Boaz praises Ruth for the choice she made:
May Adonai reward you for what you’ve done; may you be rewarded in full by Adonai the God of Isra’el, under whose wings you have come for refuge.” (CJB)
Boaz knew that what Ruth had done was a sacrifice. The decision she made to leave her people and follow this God that she couldn’t see, and join with a group of people she didn’t know, to follow the customs that they held too… That was a big deal. Boaz wanted God to reward Ruth for her decision.
I believe that this is how God is today for those who truly choose to follow Him and His teachings. It doesn’t mean it is always easy. Even Ruth would have faced struggles after she made her decision. However, God does reward those who seek Him. He is with those who earnestly desire to follow Him.
What have you given up in order to follow the one true God? What have you faced as you choose to do the things He has asked you to do? Are you like Ruth, willing to give up EVERYTHING in order to follow God? Whose wings are you seeking to find refuge in? Do you TRUST Him enough to know that HE WILL reward you if you obey Him?
So many questions and so much to think about… This little blog doesn’t even come close to all that we could learn. I pray that it challenges you to take time to do a deeper study into Ruth and all that she can teach us.
Love and blessings,
Rose
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