With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.

Ruth 1:7

For Meditation

This story needs no introduction. It is a well-known story that has been every child’s favorite in Sunday school. Today, I want us to consider the three characters that set out on the road to Bethlehem, in Judah, when the report of the visitation of God to His people after a prolonged famine that devastated the nation came to Naomi. 

The intention is for us to consider it as our Christian journey to glory and draw some personal lessons from them. Let us see how this exercise blesses you.

Naomi: Uncertain what Bethlehem held for her. How was she going to adjust with her two daughters-in-law? Will her people be kind to them? Could they get husbands in Judah, being that they are foreigners? Will they remain faithful to her as they had been?

 Orpah: Undetermined, emotion-driven, not with the heart, human pleaser, holding on to past, adventurer.

 Ruth: Faithful to the core, determined, true love, done with her family and nation and their gods; trusting in the faithfulness of the God of Israel, compassionate, caring, elevating the welfare of her mother-in-law above her own.

Orpah turned back to her people (Ruth 1:11-14), while Naomi and Ruth made it to Bethlehem (22). They became a formidable team that blessed Israel with the ancestry of King David and the world with our Savior Jesus Christ (18-22; Matt.1:5-6, 16). 

How will you be described on the Road to Glory?

Shalom.