Get off Your Donkey – Ruth

Last week I promised we’d do some more looking at the different elements to our Get off Your Donkey (GOYD from here on) series we walked through with the teens during the month of March. Each week we highlighted a different life or lives in the Bible where they specifically chose to GOYD. Our first subject was Nehemiah, who chose to GOYD (step out of his comfort zone) in a major way by taking the steps necessary to get the wall of Jerusalem rebuilt. Because of his faithfulness, this happened in just 52 days!!!!

Today we take a look at Ruth. As in Ruth from the Book of Ruth. Like Book of Eli only Book of Ruth instead. Get it? ANYWAY, Ruth was a Midianite woman, who was married to a Hebrew man. Her mother-in-law Naomi underwent a terrible time where she lost her husband and eventually both sons (one of which was Ruth’s husband) and was essentially STRANDED in a foreign land with no family and no way out. Here’s a look at how Ruth responded when her mother-in-law suggests that she should stay in Midian and start over. Her sister-in-law washes out almost immediately, but Ruth’s got something to say about it:

“16 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 peopple 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 1:16-18

Holy SMOKES! Talk about commitment. Remember the context here… Ruth is NOT a Hebrew. She is a Midianite from the land of Midian. This means she is fully intent on leaving EVERYTHING that is familiar, everything she’s known her whole life so that she can be near and take care of the only living relative on her husband’s side. Honestly, how many of us will make a move like that for our in-laws? Actually, how many of us would make a commitment like that for our own blood?

Ruth, as evidenced by her actions and her decision at that point in time, is another perfect example of how our faithfulness in just a simple act or decision to GOYD can lead to a monumental blessing or part in history. Flip back to Ruth 4:17 with me really quick would you?

“17 The women living there said, ‘Naomi has a son.’ And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.”

YES you are reading that correctly! Because of Ruth’s faithfulness she met Boaz. Because of her marriage to Boaz they had a son. And because Ruth refused to leave her mother-in-law without a family, without a home, and without care, Ruth became the great grandmother to THE King David. “The Man after God’s own Heart.” What TINY act of faithfulness do you need to execute by Getting off Your Donkey today that could have massive results for the Kingdom?