Reading Days 22-28

1 Samuel 28:20 - 2 Kings 25:30
I have always admired Ruth.


From the first time I heard her story in a childhood Sunday School class, I have been in awe of Ruth's loyalty and devotion to her mother-in-law, Naomi. Ruth was willing to leave behind her own family and friends and everything familiar to accompany Naomi to the elder woman's homeland.


Together, they fled a place marred by famine, death and painful memories. Neither woman knew what lay ahead. Yet Ruth - herself a young widow and an alien traveling into hostile territory - wouldn't let Naomi face it alone.


"Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you," Ruth said through her own tears. "Where you go I will go and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried." (Ruth 1:16-17 NIV)


After I married and acquired my own mother-in-law, my respect for Ruth deepened tenfold. I studied this Biblical passage closer to see that it portrays a mother-in-law so despondent about her own loss that she wants to do something radical, like change her name.
"Don't call me Naomi ... Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty." (Ruth 1:20-21 NIV)


Naomi couldn't have been a very delightful traveling companion. If I'd been in Ruth's sandals, I might have chosen the path of the "other" daughter-in-law, Orpah, and high-tailed it back to my clan.

Ruth remained true.

And God rewarded her dedication.


"The women said to Naomi: 'Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a kinsman-redeemer. ... He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth." (Ruth 4:14-15 NIV)


One of my favorite parts of The Bible in 90 Days program is revisiting these familiar Biblical characters and learning more about who they were. There are so many compelling and inspiring details that we need to leave out of the stories we tell children. Adam and Eve, Noah, Moses, Abraham, Samson and Ruth - all are more intriguing and complex than I ever knew as a child.
I appreciate the opportunity to delve deeper into the lives of Ruth and Naomi and new, lesser-known characters, to see how God worked through them and reveals Himself to us today. I love the discussions about which people are instruments of God's plan and which are obstacles - and where we each as individuals fall in the spectrum.

But most of all, I appreciate knowing that not one of us is taking this journey alone. Like Naomi, we have a dedicated and loyal traveling partner in stride beside us. This companion knows the complexities of our schedules and the burdens and baggage we carry. He hears us when we complain and when we rejoice, when we are confused and when we are reluctant to take the next step. And like Ruth, He promises never to turn his back on us. Where we go, He will go. Where we stay, He will stay.


Glory be to our God.
Amy Callahan