What would make you stay?
“But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. 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. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.”
Ruth 1:16-17 NIV
We all have different motivations for what we do. For some, it’s a fear of disconnection, for others it’s a fear of being perceived as weak. For as many people as are in the world there are that many motivations for doing what we do.
I would love to say that I am purely motivated out of a Love for God and others. Unfortunately too often, my motivation is people pleasing not God honoring. I can too often respond in a way that I hope makes me look good.
Ruth had pure motivations that compelled her to stay with Naomi. She vowed to love her husband and she did until his death. She then vowed to stay with a defenseless woman who needed the family ties to make it in the world. It’s hard for us to imagine today, but Naomi had very few choices and Ruth knew that.
Even though she was a foreigner, she also loved the God of her husband and mother-in-law. She chose the harder path because that was what she felt called to.
What do you feel called to? What motivates you as you live out that calling.
Dear Father, may you continue to refine my calling and motivation. May I learn from the example of Ruth. Amen.
Mandy
Sixty-six books in a year 