Oh baby...Ruth

I want to begin this post by telling you a little story about one of the most influential people that I grew up around...my friend Natalie.

Back when I was homeschooled until 5th grade I had two friends. My brother Jack and my friend Natalie. From the time we first met in Sunday school when we were little kids until senior year of high school she always had an impact on my life.

When I look at the time when I was in high school it was really easy to conform. You wanted to fit in, have lots of friends, and be cool. There was a line that I would never cross but it was close call sometimes. I had really good friends but some of the time I hung out with them because they were really cool in my eyes.

You had a couple groups of people:

- cool kids, know-it alls, athletes, 4.0 students
- cool kids, athletes, solid Christians
- good people, smart, Christians
- solid people, very strong Christinas
- rough around the edges, not really strong in their faith

Those five categories are what it seemed to be like...I liked to be a cool kid, who was an athlete, somewhat smart, and loved Jesus. The issues that I had was that I wouldn't make decisions that were completely honoring to God. The simple way to put it is that God wasn't the number one priority in my life.

You know whose life God was number 1 in? Natalie's. From day one she was never ashamed of her faith. No matter how badly she might have wanted to fit in better. No matter what people said about her. No matter what the case was, she always put Jesus above it all.

I admired her from afar. There were times were I would think she was a little crazy. I saw other things as more important and fulfilling than God. So I really wondered how she could put God above everything that there was.

She seemed to never conform to the world. She was comfortable in her own skin and who she was. She never crossed the line to fit in. Something I had done many times.

I never realized how much of an impact she had on my life until last year.

Why do I share this story?

As believers in Jesus Christ - we know what is to come someday. We are going to die and go to heaven. The path that we travel along the way is where it gets difficult. We are faced with temptations, hardships, struggles, and sorrow everyday. Satan is always trying to deceive us into thinking that the Christian life isn't worth it.

We go through things everyday that might make you question Jesus or why you do what you do. I would bet that if you thought long and hard about it - some people would come to mind who have stuck through it all and have persevered and always kept God first. No matter how difficult life got, no matter how badly someone wanted to fit in, they stuck to their faith.

I bet you can think of someone who is like a Natalie. Someone who had a tremendous amount of faith. If you know some of those people - cling to them! Don't leave their sides.

That is exactly what Ruth did. The book of Ruth is a story about God's grace in the midst of difficult circumstances. Ruth is a book that we should read to be encouraged. God is at work in the world, and he wants to use you. God used Ruth's mother-in-law to bring her to him.

Naomi had recently lost her husband and her sons...

Naomi had two daughters-in-law who had just been recently widowed. There was almost nothing worse than being widowed in the ancient world. You were taken advantage of or ignored. God's law, therefore, provided that the nearest relative of the dead husband should care for the widow; but Namoi had no relatives in Moab, and she did not know if any of her relatives were alive in Israel.

In her selfless attitude, Naomi encouraged the widows to stay in Moab and start their lives over, even if that meant more hardship for her. Naomi was putting her needs above others.

The widows really wanted to go with her, but she was persistent in her answers. She was not going to let them come with her.

Look at what Ruth says to Naomi: 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 will be 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." When Namoi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her. (Ruth 1:16-18)

I believe we can learn form two people here. First - have strong faith like Naomi. No matter what circumstances were thrown her way she remind faithful. She lost her husband and sons and remained faithful to God. Second - be loyal and persistent like Ruth. As believers we are all technically a family. Families are meant to be loyal to each other no matter what. Ruth wasn't going to let her circumstances affect her loyalty to Naomi. Ruth also was persistent. She stuck right by Naomi and wasn't going to leave her side.

Find your Natalie's, and be persistent when you are going through tough times. You never know who God might bring into your life that you will help bring right back to Him.