“When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.”
In any athletic competition there is the proverbial wall. The point that you have to decided whether to push through the pain, or to quit out of complete exhaustion. When I played college basketball at Central Bible College, Coach Hanson would make us run 2.5 miles for a warm-up run during pre-season. I have always hated to run long distances, but I love basketball. There was a final hill at about the 2 mile mark of my daily mini-marathon that was always the wall for me. It felt like at that point someone strapped a bag of college textbooks to my back. Everyday for two-weeks I had to decide if I could make it running the whole way or walk for just a few steps to catch my breath. I had to make an internal choice to keep running.
Orpah, who seems to be a good girl, left Naomi on the road to Bethlehem to return to her home, and her name is lost in the chronicles of time. But Ruth, step up with sheer determination, and give the speech of a lifetime.
” 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. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.” 18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.”
Following God will feel more like climbing a mountain than sliding down a water slide. The pathways of right living are less traveled, and will take many moments of sheer determination.
Many people hit the proverbial wall with their walk with Christ, and they give up every time. I just want to give you a pep talk if you are hitting an uphill climb. Don’t give up. Being a godly parent is hard, but worth it. Being a godly spouse is hard, but worth it. Staying away from temptation and sin is hard, but worth it. Planting a church is hard, but worth it. Don’t give up. (that last one is for me!) 