Women in the Bible: Ruth

A Reflection on Ruth

I am currently listening to Rute by Mai Charamba, a renowned gospel artist from Zimbabwe. I grew up with her music, and it has deeply impacted my life. A few weeks ago, I found myself reading what I consider the greatest love story in the Bible: the story of Ruth and Boaz.

Almost every wedding invitation I saw as a child featured Ruth 1:16:

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.”

I’ve often wondered why Ruth refused to stay in Moab. It would have made sense—after all, it was familiar, it was home. But then she said, “Your God, my God.” That was the turning point.

Ruth was willing to forsake the Moabite gods she grew up with and embrace the God of Israel. She made a bold decision to follow the LORD. This Gentile woman, once far from God, chose to draw near to Him. Naomi’s life was far from easy—she lost her husband and then her two sons. She was so devastated that she changed her name from Naomi (which means “pleasant”) to Mara (which means “bitter”). And yet, Ruth still chose Naomi’s God.

I long for the kind of revelation Ruth had and a mother-in-law like Naomi.

Chapter one ends with Naomi and Ruth arriving in Bethlehem. It may feel like the end of their journey, but really, it’s the beginning of something extraordinary. God can accomplish amazing things—for now and for eternity—when we turn toward Him, not just with our emotions, but with our actions.