Devotional: Hope Means Movement Ruth 1

“So she departed from the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah” (Ruth 1:7, NASB).

My dad worked as a sharecropper. It seems that we were always moving from one place to another. Each time that we moved dad would get an increase in pay. Regardless of the circumstances that dad found himself in he never became despondent. Dad was a Christian man. He believed that the Lord would make a way somehow. Each time that dad moved the family he did so because he had hope. He was willing to move because he hoped for a better life in the present. More importantly, he hoped that his children would enjoy a better life than the life that he had experienced.

The story of Ruth is a story of hope and movement. Because there is a famine in Judah, Elimelech moves his family to the land of the Philistine. After Elimelech and his two sons die Naomi sets out to return to her home in Bethlehem in Judah. She hears that the Lord has visited her homeland and there is food. Initially, her two daughters-in-law travel with her on the journey to Bethlehem. Naomi encourages them to return home to their people and their gods. Ruth refuses to leave Naomi. She insists on going with Naomi because she hopes for a better life in Bethlehem than in her homeland. Ruth moves to Bethlehem. She marries Boaz and gives birth to a son. They name the child Obed. “He is the father of Jesse, the father of David” (4:17). Ruth is one of five women that Matthew names in the genealogy of Jesus.

As I reflect on my own life I can see that hope has motivated me to move from one city to another; from one job to another; and from one house to another. I believe that I have been willing to move because my faith in God has led me to make changes in my life. Sometimes hope requires patience, but hope and despondency are incompatible.

Prayer: Lord God, thank you for the hope that we have in life; all because we believe your promise to always be with us. Amen.