Written by Emily Gastellum
As a small child I vividly remember singing a song entitled “I want to be like Daniel, I want to be like Ruth.” I didn’t understand the context of the song back then, but I feel that the story of Ruth has become more and more meaningful as I have grown older.
She exemplifies everything I hope to be, and I feel that her promise to Naomi is one of the most heartfelt, genuine things that you could ever say to another person.
Her promise has continued to resonate in my life as I have recently gotten engaged, and I feel the need to remind everyone of this simple passage that we don’t hear enough.
“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. Where 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.” Ruth 1: 16-17
If we lived our lives in devotion to each other (as Ruth did to Naomi), I feel we would better understand the meaning of the unconditional love that Jesus showed the world.
I want to be like Ruth.
