I sometimes give up too easily. When I am trying to do something or change something and I do not see results quickly, I just simply give up. My dad can attest to that. We used to struggle…ha! (he would laugh if he read that) through math. He would try to teach me some background and help me to understand and excel… I just wanted the answer so I could be done. Books un-read, exercise and diet programs pushed aside, learning how to play the guitar, and playing the piano well.. I could go on but you get the point; all left undone or half done. But then there are things that I have stuck with. I finished PT school and received my Masters’, I trained and finished a 10-mile race, I re-did my bathroom and painted my closet doors, and I have had the pleasure of leading a wonderful group of women known as Faithfully Fit for over 3 years. Finishing/working on those things have required persistence.
Ruth was a woman of persistence. “Born on the wrong side of the Biblical tracks as a Moabitess. When she enters the Biblical story, she does so only as the widow of a now dead husband who was one of God’s chosen people. When she elects to follow her Mother-in-Law back to Bethlehem it is a brave decision – since her language, accent and even her name would have betrayed her as a stranger. To make the journey was to leave everything familiar behind and risk all kinds of isolation.” But Ruth saw something in her mother-in law Naomi that she wanted, a relationship with Jesus and she would stop at nothing to get it.
Ruth 1:16-17 says this:
But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you<span class="crossreference" style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;" value="(A)”> or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go,<span class="crossreference" style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;" value="(B)”> and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people<span class="crossreference" style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;" value="(C)”> and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely,<span class="crossreference" style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;" value="(E)”> if even death separates you and me.”
What follows is a great love story. Ruth’s faithfulness is rewarded with a marriage to Boaz and the birth of a son, who would be the grandfather to King David. It is a story of trust, hard-work, and a “redeemer” who saved her family – her family that was just hers by marriage. Not only did Ruth start her journey but she finished it as well.
Many of us start many things. Many of us start a relationship with Christ but we never bother to see it through. We never “hang-around” long enough when we don’t see the results that we want or when we don’t “get our way”. Ruth is an example of the courage that it takes to not only step-out into the unknown, but to keep on walking and follow the road of faith (believing but NOT seeing) wherever it may lead. Ruth was radiant and allowed God to be radiant through her. What are you not being persistent with today? Is it your walk with God? Have you even stepped out yet to start your journey? What follows is a great love story…a story that is real. A story of a Savior who came just for you and for me and gave up His life because He loved us so much. A Redeemer who has saved the world and Who wants to see you to the finish…just like Ruth.
John 3:16-17
“For God so loved<span class="crossreference" style="vertical-align: top;" value="(A)”> the world that he gave<span class="crossreference" style="vertical-align: top;" value="(B)”> his one and only Son,<span class="crossreference" style="vertical-align: top;" value="(C)”> that whoever believes<span class="crossreference" style="vertical-align: top;" value="(D)”> in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.<span class="crossreference" style="vertical-align: top;" value="(E)”> For God did not send his Son into the world<span class="crossreference" style="vertical-align: top;" value="(F)”> to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.”
~Donna
