Bible Verse of the Day Wednesday July 7th 2021

Ruth 1:16 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.

This magnificent declaration of loyalty appears in precis in weddings numbering in the thousands every day, not only in this country but all across the world. Its original delivery was not between a bride and her groom, but a vow made by Ruth to her mother-in-law. Ruth was no longer legally bound to Naomi because her son, Ruth's husband had died. However, her husband's death did not stop Ruth from loving and caring for a woman she saw more as a mother than a mother-in-law. The love Ruth had for Naomi went much more profound than biology or legality could ever comprehend or be measured.

Elimelek, Naomi's husband, passed away, and Naomi continued to live with her two sons, Mahlon, and Kilion who married Moabite women named Orpah and Ruth. In time both of Naomi's sons died and left her with two Moabite daughters-in-law. When Naomi received the word, that God was helping the people of Israel and that there was food available, she decided to go back to her home in Bethlehem, in Judah. She told her daughters-in-law to stay in Moab and find new husbands, which one of them did. However, Ruth's love and devotion to Naomi went deeper than just a relationship through marriage.

God delights in devotion and confers blessings on those loyal to Christ Jesus and the furtherance of His gospel. Our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus, was faithful to His mission on this earth even though He knew about its painful and shameful result. He was loyal to the Father when He said, "not my will, but yours be done." He was faithful and loyal to us when He laid down and allowed the Roman soldiers to drive the nails in his hands and feet.

We show loyalty to Christ Jesus when we are loyal to others and our commitment to Him as His ambassadors in this lost, dark and dying world. Through our faithfulness, anyone not knowing Christ Jesus as their Lord and Savior will find the hope of His love, grace, and mercy.

There will be incidents when we only "mouth" the notions of loyalty and devotion because we have altered or lessened the principles we should be following. There are illustrations in the New Testament of even His apostles briefly wavering in their yearnings to follow Jesus. All of us end up being loyal to someone. If that happens not to be God, we will continue on a path of loyalty to ourselves. We should be sure that we understand clearly from the Word of God what loyalty to Him genuinely is and make a wise choice to follow. It will all be worth it in the end (Matthew 19:27-30).

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