Strength

Ruth 1: 15-17

15“Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.”

16But 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.17Where 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.”

Have your ever thought about what makes a person strong? What does it take to be a mighty warrior? We often think of things that are easy to identify like physical stature, career success or intelligence. There’s a problem with these things, though. The mere identification of positive attributes within us is an indication of pride. The only way we are able know if we are strong, successful or intelligent, is if we compare ourselves with others. We put ourselves up on a pedestal and engage in self-worship.

So, what makes a person strong? Ruth left everything. Turning her back on her home, her family and her gods, she followed a frail, beaten woman to a land she knew little of. She submitted to Naomi, giving up all of her rights of location and association. We do the same when we become Christians. We turn our backs on our old life to follow Christ wherever he leads.

As men within our church we have a responsibility to live in humility, serving others and not looking to promote our own agendas. I suggest we follow the example of this woman of faith who gave up everything to follow the path God had set her on.

There is no way we can do it on our own, however. That’s why we need to set aside our pride and rejoice in the truth, salvation and fellowship of Christ. If we focus on him, his agenda will become our agenda. As our plans fade away his will become clear.

Ruth 2: 11-12
11 Boaz replied, "I've been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. 12 May the LORD repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge."

Let us all seek our refuge in the Lord instead of our own understanding.