Ruth 1:16-22: a reflection

16Ruth said, “Don’t urge me to leave you, and to return from following you, for where you go, I will go; and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God. 17Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.” 18When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her. 19So they both went until they came to Bethlehem. When they had come to Bethlehem, all the city was excited about them, and they asked, “Is this Naomi?” 20She said to them, “Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21I went out full, and the LORD has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the LORD has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?” 22So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, who returned out of the country of Moab. They came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.

As Naomi, widowed and bereft, prepares to return to her homeland, she urges her widowed daughter-in-law Ruth to stay behind in Moab. But Ruth refuses, with words of remarkable commitment: Where you go, I will go; your people will be my people, and your God my God. Ruth binds herself wholly to Naomi and, more, to Naomi's God, leaving behind her own homeland, people, and gods, to cast her lot entirely with the LORD and his people. It is a wholehearted commitment.

Notice the completeness of Ruth's commitment: your people will be my people, and your God my God. She did not commit halfway, keeping a foot in her old life; she bound herself wholly, leaving her homeland, her people, her gods, to take Naomi's people as her own and Naomi's God as her God. It was a wholehearted, decisive commitment, a turning of her whole life toward the LORD and his people, holding nothing back. She cast her lot entirely with God.

That wholehearted commitment is a model for our own turning to God. We can commit to God halfway, keeping a foot in our old life, our old loyalties, holding something back. But Ruth committed wholly: your God will be my God. She turned her whole life toward the LORD, leaving the old behind, casting her lot entirely with him. Let your commitment to God be wholehearted, like Ruth's: not halfway, keeping a foot in your old life, but a turning of your whole self toward God, taking him wholly as your God, and his people as your people. Do not commit to God with a divided heart, keeping something back; commit wholly, as Ruth committed, saying in effect, your God will be my God, casting your lot entirely with the LORD. Ruth left everything to bind herself to God and his people; let your commitment to God be as wholehearted and decisive as hers, holding nothing back, but giving yourself wholly to the God you have chosen as your own.

Lord, as Naomi prepared to return to her homeland, she urged Ruth to stay behind in Moab; but Ruth refused, with words of remarkable commitment: where you go, I will go; your people will be my people, and your God my God. She bound herself wholly to Naomi and to Naomi's God, leaving behind her own homeland, people, and gods, to cast her lot entirely with you. Show me the completeness of her commitment: your God my God. She did not commit halfway, keeping a foot in her old life; she bound herself wholly, holding nothing back. Let that wholehearted commitment be a model for my own turning to you. I can commit to you halfway, keeping a foot in my old life, my old loyalties, holding something back. But Ruth committed wholly: your God will be my God. She turned her whole life toward you, leaving the old behind. Let my commitment to you be wholehearted, like Ruth's: not halfway, but a turning of my whole self toward you, taking you wholly as my God, and your people as my people. Keep me from committing to you with a divided heart, keeping something back; help me commit wholly, as Ruth committed, casting my lot entirely with you. Ruth left everything to bind herself to you and your people; let my commitment be as wholehearted and decisive as hers, Lord, holding nothing back, but giving myself wholly to you. Help me commit to you wholeheartedly.