'Ruth and Naomi' 

Ruth 1.1-18 

Determination to cling to a mother-in-law and her God brings Ruth the ultimate posterity! "...whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God." One would be hard-pressed to say that this determination was driven by common sense or even hope. 

There used to be a couple of values that guided civilized people to do heroic and uncommon things. Those values can be easily traced through the history of philosophy, military history, and the general history of great men and women of accomplishment back at least to the time of Socrates.

Those values are "Duty and Honor." The last generation in America to broadly hold those values with pride and determination was that of my parents. With my generation came the age of relativism that espoused the rights of individuals to each decide what was right in their own eyes and follow one's own path, even if it was contrary to the national interest, well-being, and policy.

Ruth chose to remain beside her mother-in-law because it was her duty, and an honor. God greatly rewarded Ruth beyond anything she could have imagined or hoped for. God gave her a husband and a son "...And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David."

God gave her a long line of descendants over the next thousand years who were kings, rulers, and a Savior. Oh how God blesses those who cherish Duty and Honor!

How anyone can claim to be a Christian and not hold dear the practice of Duty and Honor is a mystery to me. After all, it was those precious values that took Jesus from the Garden of Gethsemane to the cross..."not my will but Thine be done."