May 5

Where You Go I Will Go

Today’s Scripture Readings: Psalm 66:1-4; Judges 21:1 – Ruth 1:22; John 4:4-42; Proverbs 14:25

Today’s Scripture Focus:  Ruth 1:1-22

But Ruth replied, “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. [17] Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me” (Ruth 1:16-17 NIV). 

Loyalty does not get the credit it deserves. It is a virtue both beautiful and rare in our culture. The story of Ruth calls us back to rediscover this virtue.

Ruth is described as a “woman of noble character,” a virtuous woman. It is the supreme compliment given to a woman in the scripture. Why was she given that title?  The text indicates that it was primarily because she was loyal.

Indeed, loyalty was the beautiful quality that Boaz saw in Ruth when he praised her:

Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband–how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge” Ruth 2:11-12 (NIV). 

Loyalty is a rare quality in a day of no commitment. It is also a praiseworthy and attractive quality. May its beauty be seen and noticed in our lives.

Dear Heavenly Father, help me to be loyal like Ruth. Help me to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ so that I, too, may become a person of noble character. Amen.