The Heart of Ruth

The Heart of Ruth Lary R. Hale

Just a few notes today on one of the most powerful statements of faithfulness found in the Bible. I’m talking about Ruth the Moabitess, when her mother in law Naomi was leaving the land of Moab to go home to Israel, after having been there for a long season and suffering the loss of her husband and both of her sons. Naomi convinced her other daughter in law Orpah, to go back to her own people, and marry and raise children in her own land. But when Naomi insisted to Ruth that she follow the example of her sister in law, this is what Ruth answered the mother of her deceased husband: “And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me” (Ruth 1:16,17). This beautiful saying of pure faithfulness has always moved my spirit upon reading it, and it really exemplifies the heart that it takes to serve God faithfully and steadfastly. Naomi tried in every way to get Ruth and Orpah to go back to their people and to their gods, when she left to go back to her own home empty handed. Orpah had also been determined to go with Naomi, but she was able to be persuaded otherwise. Ruth simply was not going to be persuaded to leave her mother in law and go back to her own people, regardless of the cost. And that is exactly the way it is in the service of the Lord. There is opportunity all along the way to either overcome obstacles by faith and the power of the holy Ghost, or just go back where we came from, in spirit and mind at least. The children of Israel, after being delivered from Egypt, came to trials of their faith, and chose to go back to Egypt in their hearts; though they continued in the journey in the wilderness, following the pillar of fire and the pillar of the cloud (Acts 7:39).

Many in the body of Christ are doing the same today. Having received the Spirit, many go on in the journey in a partial manner, maintaining religious service; but in spirit being carnally minded, preferring the things that pertain to this present life (Mat. 6:33; Rom. 8:5,6). These represent the five foolish virgins in the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25, who did not take oil with them in the journey in order to keep their lamps burning. They were too late for the marriage supper and were turned away, though they expected to be accepted. What it comes down to is that true faithfulness toward God motivates a true believer to continue to “purify [himself] even as he [Christ] is pure” (I Jn. 3:3). And there are obstacles all along the way that present the choice for us to fail to hold to that holy calling if we are slack, but if we are determined to “follow peace with all men, and holiness,” those obstacles become stepping stones of growth and development in the nature of God’s love and wisdom (Heb. 12:14). The elect of God understand and believe what Ruth understood and believed, and that is that faithfulness [not just faith] is everything. Ruth in effect applied what Jesus demands of those who would truly continue to follow him: “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple” (Lk. 14:26). Jesus was not commanding anyone to spitefully hate any of the above, but rather to prefer him and doing his will, over conforming to anyone else who is contrary minded. If separating one’s self from those mentioned, or anyone else, is what it takes to keep that saying, then that is what is required, as he went on to say: “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple” (Lk. 14:33).

Seeing that the true children of God are the true seed of Abraham, it serves to good reason that this was exactly the calling that God placed upon Abraham; which calling Abraham obeyed: “Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee… So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran” (Gen. 12:1,4). And that gives us just a little bit more detail in regard to the saying of the apostle Paul, who said, “So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham: (Gal. 3:9). It seems that a lot of folks have lost sight of the reality that this calling of holiness includes a great price to be paid in order to fulfill it, though the scriptures are replete with reminders: “Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God” (Act 14:22). And, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (II Tim. 3:12). And again, “If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?” (Mat. 10:25). And who was it that called Jesus Beelzebub, as he stated? It was God’s people (Mat. 12:24). So it was God’s people that he said would persecute those who truly follow him. In fact he brought it even closer to home when he quoted from the prophet Micah, who said, “And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household”. And he did not stop at that, but continued: “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Mat. 10:36,37). Again, the true connotation is about whose spirit we choose to conform to, whether it be the Spirit of God, or the spirits of men. All I can say friend is if we have the heart of Ruth, we will “follow the lamb whitersoever he goeth,” regardless of the cost, and regardless of who stays or goes (Rev. 14:4). “For as many as are LED by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Rom. 8:14). And there is a glorious reward for the faithful who are willing to receive “the honor that comes from God only” over the honor of men, even as there was for Abraham, and Ruth, and the children of Israel who did NOT turn back to Egypt in their hearts [Joshua and Caleb] (Jn. 5:44). I for one am fully persuaded that the reward far outweighs the cost it takes to obtain it (Rom. 8:18; II Cor. 4:17; Heb. 11:26). Amen.