Ruth 1:16

“Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will Lodge; Your people shall be my people, And your God my God.”

Ruth had just experienced what many of us today will call a “emotional heart attack” or the end of the world. She makes this bold proclamation to Naomi, that we as christians ought to declare to the Lord and walk out. Ruth is a story of love,redemption and devotion. This book has always revealed God's impartiality. Seeing a Moabite women in need, displaying her faithfulness in a time of national faithlessness, and taking her from distress and making her a mother of royalty. This is what loyalty does.  Ruth realized that there was something bigger and better to this life. It wasn't found in foreign Gods, people or lifestyle. But in The God of equality. While pain and death can occur in this life, what we do and who we turn to matters most.

One of my favorite things to point out in this chapter of Ruth is her sister in law Orpah. Although we don't know much about her, we know that she made the decision to leave after being encouraged the second time by Naomi. I’m not someone who likes to make comparisons but there is something substantially obvious here. Ruth and Orpah had been through the same kind of hurt - Abandonment. Orpah in Hebrew means Orep which translates neck. In Exodus 32:9 it says “ And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people and indeed it is a stiff necked people!”  We can take a look at Sarah (Lots wife) in Genesis. The sin committed was done with the eyes neck and heart with the intent of wanting to go back. It’s no coincidence that Orpah had given in to Naomi’s encouragement the 2nd time. Her heart was set in the past. With the intent of going back, all she had to do was commit to it.

Ruth may have been abandoned, conflicted, tempted and hurt. But, she had hope. She had a solid foundation. And it was faith. Despite everything that had just happened she had chosen, not to look back or go back. She wanted to know the God whom Naomi served. And she had Acknowledged him in her heart that day. The same should apply with us today. Not leaving and standing our ground. The ground will shake, volcanoes will erupt but, if our faith truly is in christ we will not turn back. We will not give into temptation. No turning back, but following the God of our fathers. And making God, the God of our hearts.

This proclamation that Ruth makes has always spoken to me. I have read it in a different way since being here in Guatemala. Its something that I’ve realized that my heart is quite desperate to make. DAILY. God I don’t want to turn back. Where you Lodge I want to Lodge. There is something about the human heart that longs for a place of hiding. Knowing comfort and feeling it. As i began to say these words with a bowed heart, and not just in repetition, the Lord began to show me more of who he is an how not to look back. What must hang around my Orpah, must be the word of God to keep me from looking back.