Convo with Pastor - Ruth 1:16

Ruth replied,

"Don't ask me to leave you and turn back.

I will go wherever you go and live wherever you live.

Your people will be my people,

and your God will be my God."

Ruth 1:16

 

I love the simple short story of Ruth -- one of David's grandmothers ... which means, one of Jesus' great-great-many-times-great-grandmothers too.

 

And I love how God wove the path of salvation through other cultures like through Ruth's Moabite roots.

 

And I love most of all the way Ruth honored her mother-in-law, a widow. Naomi actually asked Ruth to separate and stay home in Moab. But Ruth said -- and I can't help but hear it through the Chris Tomlin song (click here) -- "Where you go, I'll go; Where you live, I'll live. I will follow you."

 

I covet that simple pattern of ... love ... trust ... obedience ... submission.

 

And here's the best part: We don't love, trust, or obey for rewards -- because often we'll never see their full fruit in this life. But sometimes, our faithfulness does get noticed!

 

Boaz, for example, took note of Ruth's character and responded to her -- a foreign woman -- with generosity. And Ruth replied, "2:10 What have I done to deserve such kindness?" And Boaz said, "2:11 I ... know about everything you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband ... 12 May the Lord ... reward you fully."

 

God did!

 

And he rewarded kind-hearted Boaz too, with a wife ... and children ... and his own link to the Messiah through Ruth!

 

In Christ's Love,

a guy who's striving for simplicity

and its fruits 

------------------------------

I love this verse ... and like many, it was part of my wedding ceremony. But hearing it as if I was saying it to God gives it a new dimension. If we simply go, do, serve, follow as God commands and wills us to then we will be rewarded immensely. 

And here are the lyrics to the Chris Tomlin song:

Where You go, I'll go 

Where You stay, I'll stay 

When You move, I'll move 

I will follow... 

All Your ways are good 

All Your ways are sure 

I will trust in You alone 

Higher than my side 

High above my life 

I will trust in You alone 

Where You go, I'll go 

Where You stay, I'll stay 

When You move, I'll move 

I will follow You 

Who You love, I'll love 

How You serve I'll serve 

If this life I lose, I will follow You 

I will follow You 

Light unto the world 

Light unto my life 

I will live for You alone 

You're the one I seek 

Knowing I will find 

All I need in You alone, in You alone 

Where You go, I'll go 

Where You stay, I'll stay 

When You move, I'll move 

I will follow You 

Who You love, I'll love 

How You serve I'll serve 

If this life I lose, I will follow You 

I will follow You 

In You there's life everlasting 

In You there's freedom for my soul 

In You there joy, unending joy and 

I will follow Where You go, 

I'll go Where You stay, 

I'll stay When You move, 

I'll move I will follow You 

Who You love, I'll love 

How You serve I'll serve 

If this life I lose, I will follow You 

I will follow (x2)