Choices

I am quoting from Ruth 1:1-18 (The Message)
1 Once upon a time - it was back in the days when judges led Israel - there was a famine in the land. A man from Bethlehem in Judah left home to live in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. 2 The man's name was Elimelech; his wife's name was Naomi; his sons were named Mahlon and Kilion - all Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They all went to the country of Moab and settled there. 3 Elimelech died and Naomi was left, she and her two sons. 4 The sons took Moabite wives; the name of the first was Orpah, the second Ruth. They lived there in Moab for the next ten years. 5 But then the two brothers, Mahlon and Kilion, died. Now the woman was left without either her young men or her husband.
6 One day she got herself together, she and her two daughters-in-law, to leave the country of Moab and set out for home; she had heard that God had been pleased to visit his people and give them food. 7 And so she started out from the place she had been living, she and her two daughters-in-law with her, on the road back to the land of Judah. 8 After a short while on the road, Naomi told her two daughters-in-law, "Go back. Go home and live with your mothers. And may God treat you as graciously as you treated your deceased husbands and me. 9 May God give each of you a new home and a new husband!" She kissed them and they cried openly. 10 They said, "No, we're going on with you to your people." 11 But Naomi was firm: "Go back, my dear daughters. Why would you come with me? Do you suppose I still have sons in my womb who can become your future husbands? 12 Go back, dear daughters - on your way, please! I'm too old to get a husband. Why, even if I said, 'There's still hope!' and this very night got a man and had sons, 13 can you imagine being satisfied to wait until they were grown? Would you wait that long to get married again? No, dear daughters; this is a bitter pill for me to swallow - more bitter for me than for you. God has dealt me a hard blow." 14 Again they cried openly. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye; but Ruth embraced her and held on. 15 Naomi said, "Look, your sister-in-law is going back home to live with her own people and gods; go with her." 16 But Ruth said, "Don't force me to leave you; don't make me go home. Where you go, I go; and where you live, I'll live. Your people are my people, your God is my god; 17 where you die, I'll die, and that's where I'll be buried, so help me God - not even death itself is going to come between us!" 18 When Naomi saw that Ruth had her heart set on going with her, she gave in.

Elimelech and Naomi had made their home in Moab - a country where God was not worshiped. When Elimelech died, Naomi's sons and her daughters-in-law took care of her. When 10 years later her sons died as well, Naomi had lost everything she could count on for a woman living in those times. She had no security left - no one to take responsibility for her. It was a difficult situation at the best of times, but there was a famine in the land which made it even worse. Then Naomi heard that God was moving and feeding His children. She made a decision to turn back to her homeland and to the God she had known since childhood. Even though she knew she would have no rights and no family, she had faith that God would help her somehow.

She gave her daughters-in-law a choice. Going on with her meant a life of uncertainty, a life of probable begging, with no roof over their heads and no food on the table. Staying with their families at least meant that they would have a place to live. They didn't know Naomi's God; they hadn't been raised to know of His power or His love and mercy. It would take a blind step of faith to follow Naomi. The reasons to stay far outweighed the reasons to go. Once she thought about it, Orpah made the decision to go back to her comfort zone and to her gods - she decided to trust in what she could see. Ruth, however, realized that she basically had nothing to return to - there was a famine in her land and no amount of worship and service to her household gods had made a difference. They were powerless to help her. Something stirred in Ruth's heart - the possibility that what Naomi had been telling her about the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob might be true. The slight chance that He really was loving and merciful toward His children. The hope that He would accept her because of Naomi. If you read on through the book of Ruth, you find a story of redemption and love - Ruth becomes a part of the lineage of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah. What seemed like a small decision had eternal consequences!

We face the same kind of choices every day of our lives. For some of us, we look around and find that we have made our home far from where we began, far from the God we once knew. Our lives are dry and there's a famine of God's presence. Then we feel it, the wooing of the Holy Spirit - we sense that God is moving and calling to us. We hear that God is pouring out His blessings on His children. We have a choice to make. Or perhaps we are facing situations that are pushing us out of our comfort zones - out of the places we feel secure in. He's asking us to step out in blind faith and trust Him. Or perhaps it's just the hundreds of everyday choices we make to take the higher road - to live out our faith and work out our relationship with God. I want to encourage you to make the right choice - turn back to the God Who loves you. Fall with reckless abandon at His feet and let Him be your Kinsman Redeemer like Boaz was for Ruth. You could be a part of something incredible - something life-changing - something eternal.