Who's Your Burden-Sharer (Ruth 1:14-18)

Then they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. And she said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” But Ruth said:

“ Entreat me not to leave you,
Or to turn back from following after you;
For wherever you go, I will go;
And wherever you lodge, I will lodge;
Your people shall be my people,
And your God, my God.
Where you die, I will die,
And there will I be buried.
The LORD do so to me, and more also,
If anything but death parts you and me.”

When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her.
(Ruth 1:14-18, NKJV)

These verses contain some of the most beautiful words in the Bible—and that says a lot!

Naomi insisted her daughters-in-law return to their families. Orpah sadly did so, but Ruth refused, with those beautiful, overwhelmingly-loving words. The Message’s paraphrase:

"Don't force me to leave you; don't make me go home. Where you go, I go; and where you live, I'll live. Your people are my people, your God is my god; where you die, I'll die, and that's where I'll be buried, so help me GOD—not even death itself is going to come between us!"

Can you imagine how Naomi’s heartache was soothed by Ruth’s words? Her dearly-loved daughter-in-law—really her daughter by now—wouldn’t leave her. Naomi would return to her homeland with someone by her side. Although she still grieved her losses, she wouldn’t be alone.

Whom do you have to stay by your side when you grieve? Who will be with you when you face loss? I pray you have a friend or family member no further than a phone call, one who will be your burden-sharer.