The Valley of Decision ~ Ruth

One of the most dramatic decisions in the Bible comes in the book of Ruth. Her story is simple: She married Mahlon, a son of Elimelech, a man who moved his family from Judah to Moab because of famine. And when he and his sons died, his wife Naomi and his daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah, were left alone. Because Naomi had heard that God had fed his people with bread, she decided to go back to Judah. She told Ruth and Orpah to go back to their own families to find husbands. Both women wept at being separated from Naomi, and Orpah returned to her family. But the decision for Ruth was very different. She clung to Naomi, and spoke these passionate words to her:
~

"Entreat me not to leave you,

 Or to turn back from following

         after you;
 For wherever you go, I will go;

And wherever you lodge, I will
          lodge;
Your people shall be my people,
And your God, my God.
Where you die I will die,
And there will I be buried.
The Lord do so to me also,
If anything but death parts you and me."

These words show the heart of Ruth--her passionate nature, her love and loyalty.  Her decision also shows her attitude: she was unafraid, having experienced a good life with her husband and his family.  So she went with Naomi back to Judah.

The two women arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest. Ruth worked in the field of Boaz--a wealthy relative of Naomi's husband--to glean heads of grain after the reapers. Boaz learned about Ruth and said to her: "It has been fully reported to me all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and you have come to a people whom you did not know before." Boaz saw that Ruth was an exceptional woman.

And he hoped that God would reward her for taking refuge with Israel. He told her to stay in his field and eat at his table. Then he spoke to the reapers and told them to leave some grain for her. When Naomi saw all the grain that Ruth brought home, she said, "Where did you glean today? And where did you work? Blessed be the one who took notice of you." Ruth had already been blessed by her decision to stay with Naomi. And throughout the barley and wheat harvests, she stayed with the young women gathering in the field of Boaz, while living with her mother-in-law.

                                                                              
Knowing she had no more sons for Ruth to marry, Naomi made a decision to secure Ruth's future. She gave Ruth instructions about making her situation known to Boaz. Ruth dressed herself and went to the threshing floor and asked Boaz to take her under his wing, as he was a close relative. After Boaz negotiated with her closest relative, who did not want to marry her, he took Ruth as his wife, so that Mahlon's line could be perpetuated.

 And when Ruth bore a son to Boaz, the women said to Naomi: "Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a close relative; and may his name be famous in Israel! And may he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him." And the child was named Obed, who was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

Now think again about what happened because of Ruth's decision to go with her mother-in-law. Ruth was blessed, Naomi was blessed, Boaz was blessed, and because of David through whom the Messiah came, the whole world was blessed! You and I don't think that our everyday decisions make a difference, do we? But like Ruth's decision, our own decisions mean a lot in our lives, because they add up to who we are and what we are as years go by. You can't expect to become a woman like  Ruth, if you're making the wrong decisions. Every bad decision you make takes you on a path that God didn't intend for you. If you want to make a difference for good in the world, you must listen to God's word and follow His counsel!

Blessings...Mimi