In the chapter of Ruth, Bible talks
about a family who lived in Judah.
“The
name of the man was Elimelech,
the name of his wife was Naomi,
and the names of his two sons were
Mahlon and Chilion...” – Ruth 1:2
There was a famine in
the land of Judah and so he along with his family went to the country of Moab
and remained there. Everything seems to be fine in their life but one day
Elimelech died and Naomi became a widow. She wanted to find wives for his sons
and instead of finding a bride from her nation she took wives for his sons from
the country of Moab which actually was a traditional enemy to Israel.
One of her daughter in
law was Ruth. Ruth was not an Israelite woman. She was a Moabite woman. She
would have married with so much of dreams and thoughts. She lived with her
husband for nearly ten years but yet she was barren. One day her husband died. She
became a widow at a young age.
She might have sat and
analysed the things. Her father in law died followed by her husband and brother
in law. Every man in that family has died. She would have felt so much
disappointed that she could not have a child through her husband. She might
have felt that she was cheated by Naomi as every man has died in their family.
One day her mother in
law decided to return to her country from Moab. She had never asked the opinion
of Ruth or the other daughter in law. Naomi herself decided everything and went
on her way along with her daughter in laws. At one point she asked them to
return back to their mother’s home.
Think about the
condition of Ruth. She had a hope when she got married to one of the sons of
Naomi but later all her hopes were shattered. All in a sudden her mother in law
took a decision to move out of the country where she lived from her childhood.
And again suddenly she was asked to go back to her mother’s house.
Ruth had all rights to
get angry upon her mother in law. If I was in the place of Ruth, I would have
thought that Naomi became crazy and unstable. Ruth has so many reasons to run
away from her mother in law and to hate her.
But my dear young
women, you have to note that Ruth never got disappointed with her mother in
law. Her husband and father in law died and she had no one to monitor the way
she is going to behave with her mother in law. But yet Ruth loved her mother in
law and respected her.
Naomi had no hope
about her own future and so she asked Ruth to leave her and go to her house.
Ruth also had no clear picture about her future days if she decides to go along
with her mother in law but yet she made a firm decision to stay with her mother
in law and she said:
“...Entreat me
not to leave you, Or to turn
back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you
lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall
be my people, And your God, my God. Where you die, I
will die, And there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and
more also, If anything but
death parts you and me.” – Ruth 1:16,17
I was so surprised when I read the above verse. When Ruth
took a decision and spoke the above words she never spoke anything about her
own future. All she had spoke was about being with her mother in law. I wonder
why Ruth had never spoke about her marriage or about the blessings of her own
life.
She spoke only about her life with her mother in law. She never
spoke about parting ways. She spoke about togetherness because she loved her
mother in law.
She got grace in the sight of Boaz because of the way she
treated her mother in law. Bible clearly records that in Ruth 2:11 “And Boaz answered
and said to her, “It has been fully reported to me, all that you have done for
your mother-in-law since the death of your husband...”
Also in Ruth chapter 3 we read the counsel Ruth get through her
mother-in-law which brought great blessings in the life of Ruth. Ruth obeyed
the advice gave by Naomi and she got Boaz as her husband and she gave birth to
Obed who was the grandfather of King David.
Her name was written in the genealogy of Jesus Christ as “...Boaz begot Obed by Ruth...”-Matthew 1:5
My dear young women, are you loving your mother-in-law? You might say
hundred of reasons that why you hate your mother-in-law. But today God wants
you to love your mother-in-law as Ruth loved and obeyed her mother-in-law. If
you do so, today God says that through you, His generation will be revealed and
you will be blessed.
You will be surely a virtous woman if you love your mother-in-law without
any bitterness and give respect to her. At the end of your life, God is not
going to judge you by the reasons you are going to give Him but by the way you
live according to His will and not according to your own priority and desires.
God bless you.
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