A Final Decision
And she said, Behold thy sister-in-law is gone back unto her people,
and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister-in-law.
Ruth 1:15
Read Ruth 1:8-15
Naomi tests Ruth regarding her choice to leave the world and join herself to
the people of God. Naomi admonished her, “Look at your sister-in-law Orpah;
she has chosen to return to her birthplace, to her people, her family and
to her gods.” It is one or the other: the Lord or the idols. Orpah had shown
that she preferred to remain in the world, serving false gods rather than the
one true God of Israel who demanded obedience to His Word.
This choice is also required today. When we look around us, we see that
idol worship of various kinds thrives worldwide. There are many choices
to be made. On the one hand man is taken up with their idols in the world
of sports, and in another place it is the world of media and entertainment.
Whatever shape man’s idols take, the result is the same: they remain alienated
from the living God.
True worship concerns one thing only: believing in the living God in whose
Name we have been baptized. He calls, “My son, my daughter, give Me thy
heart,” for the heart is the center of your being. When you pledge allegiance
to the Lord, Ruth’s confession also becomes yours, “Thy people shall be my
people, and thy God my God” (Ruth 1:16).
Question: For whom or what do you live?
Psalter 298:1, 2 (based on Psalm 108)
My steadfast heart, O God, Will sound Thy praise abroad, With tuneful string;
The dawn shall hear my song, Thy praise I will prolong,
And where Thy people throng Thanksgiving bring.
Thy truth and tender love Are high as heaven above; Thy help we crave.
Be Thou exalted high Above the lofty sky;
Lest Thy beloved die, O hear and save.
