Romantic Scriptures--Ruth 1:16
Day 5
St. Valentine’s Day +3 and I’ve had my fill of romance for the year.
In fact, I’m ready to shake off this girly-stuff, (lol) and get back to deep philosophical musings and the meaning of life pronouncements. 🙂
Romance is a real emotion though and I’m happy to see that figures like Solomon and Paul address the throbbing hearts (and other parts) and the oft unrequited nature of love in Scripture.
There’s really no human experience that isn’t detailed SOMEWHERE in the Bible.
Finally, there is the sexiness of Ruth.
Not her physically, but maybe. When she gussied up some and laid at the feet of Boaz, a possible Kinsman-Redeemer after being widowed, she wasn’t rejected.
There might not be too much sexier than a woman showing up at the foot of my bed in a pleasing, form-fitting tunic, but her loyalty to me would be one.
And Ruth showed her ample loyalty to her mother-in-law Naomi after the death of Ruth’s husband, who was Naomi’s son in Ruth 1:
Ruth 1:16 But Ruth said, “Do not plead with me to leave you or to turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you sleep, I will sleep. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.
That sort of loyalty isn’t just sexy to a mate–but to everyone.
Ruth is saying she will ride and die with Naomi and her people–and therefore with God as her Lord–even though Ruth was despised by the others as a Moabite.
Shannon Bream writes in The Women of the Bible Speak: The Wisdom of 16 Women and Their Lessons for Today:
“Ruth became a powerful symbol of the riches that await those who choose to step out in faith and who leave behind the comfortable in favor of the strange and spiritually challenging.”
And marriage is about as strange and spiritually challenging as it gets. 🙂
But what I notice in verse 16 isn’t just about Ruth proclaiming fealty to Naomi–she’s taking on God too.
And that’s more important than any human relationship–even to a spouse.
Not to fool up with inerrant Scripture, but maybe Ruth could have said, “Because your God is my God, I will go where you go.” 🙂
C.S. Lewis remarks about the sweetness of loving another better by loving God more in Letters of C.S. Lewis:
“When I have learnt to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now. In so far as I learn to love my earthly dearest at the expense of God and instead of God, I shall be moving towards the state in which I shall not love my earthly dearest at all. When first things are put first, second things are not suppressed but increased.”
It’s okay for God to be first–when He is He makes what’s next all that much better.
Karen and I don’t have a marriage without God’s Spirit in our lives.
We were frustrated yesterday when we were trying to get flights squared away for a cruise later in the summer when we realized all the flights were sub-contracted out to other carriers–pretty much whatever airline we chose–and we couldn’t select our seats.
We have to leave where we sit for 14 hours up to the vagaries of Air Iberia or Air Serbia or whoever is running the flight.
And we WANT to be together.
We figured, we can’t game the airline system (we tried)–but God will make things work out for the best. If we are together, that would be great, but if we aren’t–there’s a reason for that too.
Maybe the Lord knows we’ll need to be away from each other on the way back. 🙂
Knowing God is first in our marriage takes a lot of daily stress away (and in this case, minimizes the possibility of being on some TikTok video of trying to switch seats with someone who doesn’t want to switch).
We can lean on each other BECAUSE we worship and glorify Him.
And that’s all that Ruth was saying to Naomi–lean on me, I’m not going anywhere.
That’s sexy. 🙂
Ruth could have written the Bill Withers’ classic, Lean on Me:
Hmm... hmm-hmm-hmm-hmm
Hmm-hmm-hmm-hmm
Hmm-hmm-hmm-hmm-hmm
Sometimes in our lives
We all have pain
We all have sorrow
But if we are wise
We know that there's always tomorrow
Lean on me
When you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on...
For it won't be long
Till I'm gonna need somebody to lean on
Please swallow your pride
If I have things you need to borrow
For no one can fill
Those of your needs that you won't let show
You just call on me brother when you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on
I just might have a problem that you'll understand
We all need somebody to lean on
Lean on me
When you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on...
For it won't be long
Till I'm gonna need somebody to lean on
You just call on me brother
When you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on
I just might have a problem that you'll understand
We all need somebody to lean on
If there is a load you have to bear
That you can't carry
I'm right up the road
I'll share your load
If you just call me
Call me
If you need a friend
(call me)
Call me (call me)
If you need a friend
(call me)
If you ever need a friend
(call me)
Call me
(call me) Call me
(call me) Call me
(call me) Call me
(call me)
If you need a friend
(call me)
Call me
(call me) Call me
(call me) Call me
(call me) Call me
(call me)
Lord, help us to be like Ruth, steadfast in our commitments to love and support of those we love. Teach us to pledge loyalty not just in words but in actions.
Lord, help us choose loyalty, love, and faith over convenience of fear.
Amen.
PS. I’m starting Haunted Cosmos: Doing Your Duty In A World That’s Not Just Stuff tomorrow, and I hope that’s a return to the Weird-But-Fascinating realm of Scripture, (where I feel most comfortable).
Onward!