“A true Christian?”
And Orpah kissed her mother in law. —Ruth 1:14
Read Ruth 1:7-18
A judge once asked a young teenager why he went along with a gang that committed vandalism. He answered, “It kind of went by itself.” Many people say much the same thing when they have done something wrong. They never gave it a thought beforehand, and are therefore not fit to make right choices in their life. This is often true concerning spiritual life as well. Many people are not really attached to God’s Word or their church. For appearance’ sake they attend church, but their heart is not in it. Consequently, when important decisions have to be made, they take the way of least resistance, which is often a worldly choice. Do you recognize yourself in this respect?
Naomi asked her two daughters-in-law to turn back to Moab because there would be no future for these two young widows in Israel. She had no more sons whom they could marry. A dead man’s brother had to marry his sister-in-law if that couple had received no children. In this Levitical marriage, future generations of the deceased would be preserved. Naomi wished that her daughters-in-law might marry again in their homeland, something that was next to impossible in the land of Israel. This seemed reasonable to Orpah, so she returned to her heathen homeland, Moab. This meant, however, that she turned her back on the God of Israel. She had only embraced the Jewish faith outwardly, performing some religious duties without engaging her heart. But Ruth confessed her faith in the God of Naomi: “thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God” (v.16).
What can we conclude from Ruth’s confession?