Ruth’s Persistent Pursuit of God

As I meditated on Biblical Examples of Persistence, Ruth left an indelible impression in my mind of a Persistent Pursuit of God. Her remarkable words in Ruth 1:16-17 are so binding that couples entering marriage often include them in their wedding vows.

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)

In other words, Ruth said to her mother-in-law Naomi:

Forget it mother no matter what you say I am coming with you so give it a rest. Even though you are convinced that God has turned against you there’s something about you and God that makes me stick to you like “crazy glue”. Maybe death awaits us back in Bethlehem but I would rather go there and die with you than to abandon you and God.  As a matter of fact, I am giving God permission to “strike me down dead” if I cave into the obvious decision to discontinue my Persistent Pursuit of you, and Him.

Ruth’s determination to follow Naomi and lose everything triumphed over Naomi’s urging her to turn back and possibly gain a home and another husband.

Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the Lord show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me. May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.

When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.

Ruth 1:8- 9, 18 (NIV)

Ruth is indeed a godly example of a Persistent Pursuit of God. Even though it might look like a “leap in the dark”, she trusted the Lord.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)

Ruth was persistent in pursing or seeking the Kingdom of God and its righteousness first and as God promised all other things were added to her including her husband Boaz, son Obed (grandfather of David), and she was one of only a few women mentioned in the genealogy of Christ. 

The hand of God supernaturally orchestrated His Sovereign will in a young woman’s life who was willing to deny herself, take up her cross and follow Him. (Matt 16:24)

Sovereign Lord please help us to be in Persistent Pursuit of You daily, just like Ruth, in Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.