Reading: Ruth 1

'The Mark of a Follower'

"But Ruth said, "Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go," Ruth 1:16

Loyalty is not a common value practiced in our culture anymore. We know of many instances where spouses are not loyal, politicians are not loyal, law enforcement officers are not loyal, church members are not loyal, and on and on. But one of the best examples of loyalty is found in the book of Ruth. Ruth was a Moabite and a widow of an Israelite. Her mother-in-law Naomi had lost her husband and two sons and was in a foreign land of idolaters. It was time for her to go back to Judah and Naomi urges her daughter-in-laws to go to the house of their mothers. One goes but Ruth's loyalty is to Naomi. She was determined not only to stay with her mother-in-law, but also to follow her, "Where you go, I will go". Ruth showed her loyalty not only by word but by deed.

O Lord, I pray that I may learn that kind of Loyalty.
Thank you for Ruth's example.