“ 14 Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. 15 And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16 But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.”
- Ruth 1:14-17
We are blessed to belong to many different families.
Some of us have an amazing biological family. Others have experienced the joy of being adopted into a forever family. We get to share in the joys and sorrows of our church family. We can thrive and compete with our sports family. We push one another to succeed in our school or work families. We have the security that comes along with knowing our family of friends has our back.
Nothing thrills the heart of God more than you being part of His family! God loves to take the lonely and place them in His family. Ruth’s story has a sad beginning, but a happy ending.
Ruth was an outsider who married one of God’s chosen people. She grew to love her mother-in-law, Naomi, and the God about Whom she so often spoke. When Ruth’s husband died, she had a choice. Instead of going back to her old family and way of life, she refused to leave Naomi’s side, pledging she would stay with her to be part of Naomi’s family and God’s family.
God looked on Ruth with love. He not only sent her an amazing new husband who would care for her and Naomi, He also included Ruth in His adopted family. Ruth became a mom, then a grandmother, and a great-grandmother to the famous King David, Israel’s greatest king. God included Ruth to be a part of Jesus’ line of ancestors!
As you hang your ornament, remember God loves to place the lonely in families. Watch for someone like Ruth you can include today!