Real Love

16 But Ruth said, "Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; Where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. 17 Where you die, I will die-- there will I be buried. May the LORD do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!" (Ruth 1:16-17)

Naomi was at the end of her rope. First her husband had died, then both of her sons died also - leaving her and her daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth, grieving bitterly. Naomi had heard that the famine, which had motivated her move with her husband from Bethlehem to Moab, had ended so she planned to return home. She convinced Orpah to go back to her own family, but Ruth would not go. Naomi loved Ruth enough to want more for her, and, despite that desire, she also loved her enough to allow Ruth to choose to stay. Ruth loved Naomi enough to set aside her own hopes for her future to stay with and care for Naomi. Real love is not a feeling - it's putting someone else before yourself.

Naomi believed that God had turned away from her (v. 13) but, in Ruth, God was saying "I'll never leave nor forsake you". It can be difficult to walk with someone in their grief, especially when our own grief is palpable. Perhaps their journey together - sometimes silently, sometimes crying, sometimes laughing at shared memories - filled their souls as much as Bethlehem, the "house of bread", promised to fill their bellies. Unselfish care for those who can give us nothing in return is the best way to truly love our neighbor.

29 Jesus answered, "The first is, 'Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30 you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' 31 The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:29-31)