I wonder if Ruth has any idea when she chose to follow Naomi home the legacy she was building for her family. I also wonder: did Ruth know she was being obedient to God when she made the decision to stay with Naomi, or was the strong love Naomi had with Ruth the means to which Ruth was drawn to leaving her family and friends behind? We are all familiar with the phrases, “Your people will be my people and your God will be my God,” but other than that, the indication rests that it was Ruth’s love for Naomi that compelled her to go to Bethlehem, where years later the Son of God, through Ruth’s blood-line would come to give His life. Although, it doesn’t really matter why Ruth made the choices she made, one challenge struck me; had she not, would the story of Jesus had been a little different? Surely, the story of Ruth, Jesse, and David would have changed. What an opportunity Ruth would have missed out on had she done as I believe I would have been drawn to do. Weep for missing Naomi, but rationalized the easier road. One must consider the choice Ruth was making…essentially, as far as she knew, by following Naomi, she was choosing to live out the life of a widow in poverty. Even though being married to Naomi’s son made half Israeli, she was still by blood a Moabite and considered a foreigner. (She refers to herself as such several times in her conversations with Boaz.) In accordance with Israelite customs, her chances at marriage and future children were slim.

I am challenged now to consider my own path. First, do I, like Naomi, compel others to want to ‘my God to be theirs?’ Surely, Ruth’s comments indicate a deep appreciation for a relationship with Christ-one she surely learned from Naomi. Her comment shows she is ready to embrace the God Naomi has lived out before her. Even further, Naomi and Ruth lived under the very same roof. Meaning, Ruth was privy to Naomi’s private life as well. That is impressive. This thought brings me to what really struck me as I read this story. My children will embrace perceptions of the God I follow from the life they see me live. That is a sobering reality. If I am talking often of Jesus, what pleases Him, how He expects us to treat one another, then I better be ready for them to filter their perceptions of this Jesus by the way I talk, serve, and respond, even in stressed and irritating situations. Secondly, I think of the daily choices I make and the potential to build or sacrifice possible legacies for my children. Ruth’s choices enabled her son to be the great-grandfather of the man God called “his friend.” Greater still, her son was the great (a bunch of times over) grandfather of the earthly form of Jesus. Certainly, I believe that Jesus would have come, with or without Ruth, I don’t hold to the belief that God is dependent on our obedience for Him to see His plans fulfilled; however, I do believe we can miss blessings and opportunities if we are not sensitive and obedient to His leading. (Theologians reading my blog, I have not really searched this out in Scripture, so don’t blast me, ok?) The point is, choices, big or small, examples we live out, words we speak, all have the potential for eternal impact. Maybe not every word we say, or every action we execute, but whose to know which word, which action is the one that will begin/build the fulfillment of our own personal destiny for Christ, and; therefore, the legacy we leave for our children?