1/9/2026

Day 9
Ruth’s Commitment

Ruth 1:16–18 (NLT)

“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.”

Ruth’s words to Naomi stand among the most profound expressions of covenant commitment in all of Scripture. This is not surrender rooted in safety or self-preservation, but surrender anchored in loyalty, love, and faith. Ruth does not choose what is practical; she chooses what is faithful. Her commitment is not to comfort, but to relationship—not to advantage, but to covenant.

Ruth had every reason to turn back. Naomi, widowed and devastated, urged her daughters-in-law to return to Moab, to their families, their familiar gods, and the possibility of remarriage and security. Orpah wept, kissed Naomi goodbye, and returned home (Ruth 1:14). Scripture does not condemn her; her decision was reasonable, culturally acceptable, and understandable. But Ruth’s choice was not guided by reason alone—it was guided by love and faith.

The text says Ruth “clung” to Naomi. The Hebrew word dabaq means to cleave, to glue oneself to another, to hold fast with unwavering attachment. It is the same word used in Genesis 2:24: “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife.” Ruth’s surrender was not partial or conditional; it was permanent. She refused to be torn away.

What Ruth surrendered cannot be overstated. She left her homeland, her culture, her language, and her people. She abandoned any realistic hope of remarriage in a society where Moabite women were outsiders and often despised (Deuteronomy 23:3). She chose poverty with Naomi over the possibility of provision in Moab. Most significantly, she turned from the gods of her ancestors to the God of Israel—a God she knew only through the life and testimony of a grieving, bitter widow. Yet Ruth’s declaration was unwavering: “Your God will be my God.”

Ruth’s commitment reveals a vital truth: surrender is fundamentally a relational act. She did not surrender to an idea, a promise of blessing, or a guaranteed future. She surrendered to a person—and through that relationship, to God Himself. Our surrender to Christ is the same. Jesus does not invite us to follow principles, but Himself: “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23, NLT).

Notice the completeness of Ruth’s vow. She surrenders her direction (“Where you go”), her dwelling (“Where you live”), her community (“Your people”), her faith (“Your God”), and even her burial place. There is no escape clause, no hidden exit, no plan B. This is the kind of commitment Jesus described when He warned that no one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God (Luke 9:62).

Ruth’s story ends with redemption. God places her in Boaz’s field, restores her dignity, and weaves her into the lineage of David—and ultimately, Jesus Christ Himself (Ruth 4:13–17; Matthew 1:5). Her surrender positioned her for blessings she could never have imagined. Yet even if her story had ended in obscurity, her surrender would still have been right. We do not cling to God for outcomes; we cling because He is worthy (Job 13:15).

So the question presses upon us with holy weight: “Where You go, I will go”—even into uncertainty, loss, or places that stretch your faith beyond comfort. “Your people shall be my people”—even when they are unfamiliar, inconvenient, or different from your natural community. What must loosen its grip on your heart for you to say with Ruth, without reservation or retreat, “Nothing but death shall part me from You”?

“Surrender is not asking where God will lead, 

but burning every bridge behind me so that obedience is my only direction.”