A Love So Strong

"Who Am I?" Devotion Series

Ruth didn’t know the true and living God as a girl growing up. As a Moabite she worshiped Chemosh, the chief Moabite god, and other lesser gods. She probably didn’t know anyone who knew God either. Her people were enemies of God’s people, from the time of Balak, king of Moab, who tried to curse the people of Israel (Numbers 22-24), to the time of the judges when Moab oppressed Israel for 18 years (Judges 3:12-14).

But then a famine hit Israel, driving one man from Bethlehem to find relief in the land of Moab with his wife, Naomi, and two sons, Mahlon and Chilion. Mahlon would soon take a wife—and that wife was Ruth.

Now, after so many years of living, so many years of being grounded in her Moabite identity, Ruth began to hear about Jehovah God. Maybe they told her about the signs and wonders He performed when He brought His people out of Egypt with a strong hand. Maybe she heard that when Balak tried to bring a curse on God’s people, God would only allow a blessing. Whatever it was, she was listening. In her heart, she knew this God was different. Real. Powerful.

After her husband died and her mother-in-law decided to return to Bethlehem, there was no way Ruth could stay in Moab. She knew the truth…she’d been changed. Even when Naomi pleaded with her to go back, thinking it was for Ruth’s good, Ruth wouldn’t hear of it. She told Naomi, “Do not urge me to leave you or turn back 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” (Ruth 1:16).

Did you hear that? She was willing to exchange everything she’d been and everything she’d known—her very identity—for God. The love was that strong—God’s love.

For it was God who had her in mind before the foundation of the world. It was God who loved her—even while she was yet a sinner. It was God who had a plan for her life, who, in His sovereignty, planned that she would meet a family who would tell her about Him. It was His strong love that awakened her, gave her the faith to believe, to leave, to enter a new life—a life of blessing.

And He certainly blessed her. In Bethlehem, Ruth met an honorable and godly man from the tribe of Judah, Boaz, who became her husband. They had a son, Obed, who became the grandfather of King David of Israel. Yes, Ruth was King David’s great-grandmother…which means—yes, it gets better—she is named in the genealogy of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:5).

Ephesians tells us, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places…” (Ephesians 2:4-6). Have you experienced God’s strong love? Has that love awakened you from the dead and raised you to heavenly places? Have you allowed that love to change you from your very core?

Oh, how awesome it would be if we would all, like Ruth, grab hold of God’s love and love Him in return, with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We have nothing to fear. When we give Him our lives, our very selves, we can be nothing but blessed.

Heavenly Father, I praise You, for You are truly an awesome God. You are sovereign. Thank You for loving me with Your great love. Thank You for sending Your Son to die for me, to pay the penalty for my sins, so I might be raised to new life. Help me to experience the fullness of your love. Like Ruth, help me to surrender the old things, that I might step into all of the blessings of this abundant life in Christ. In Jesus’ name, Amen.