Dedicated

But Ruth replied, “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!”  Ruth 1:16-17 NLT

As I have been preparing for a message from the book of Ruth these past few weeks I have read these verses multiple times and they have given me pause. When was the last time I was so convinced that something was right or the right direction that I was willing to go all in? That is what I see from Ruth in this passage. She was so determined to honor her mother-in-law that she was willing to put her whole life on the line. This is a great picture of how I am to be living my life for God. But so often what happens to me is that following God gets hard, the direction is not always clear, relationships are not easy, and I am tempted to turn back or do something easier. My resolve needs to be that I am all in, completely dedicated to following God no matter what. I think these few verses are great verses to put somewhere that I can see every day as a reminder to me of my commitment to live for God.
How about you? Do you need that daily reminder of your choice to follow and live for God no matter what? Why not write these verses out and put them in a place where you will see them multiple times during the day as a reminder of your choice to follow God?

-Pastor Tim