by John O’Malley
“And Ruth said…for whither thou goest, I will go” (Ruth 1:16).
Hope is the sole possession of Naomi. She no longer has a husband; death came and took him. She no longer has her sons; death visited her home and took them. She is down to one daughter-in-law after the departure of Orpah. She will leave grave sites and grave memories in Moab. She seemingly is both empty-handed and empty-hearted.
How can hope be her sole possession? Her circumstances and conditions indicate on the barometer of hope that a storm is here. Yet, you must recall that she had heard in Bethlehem-judah that the Lord had visited His people again with bread.
You may say, “It must be a very special bread to make her walk sixty-seven miles home.” No, my friend, she is not headed home for the bread, but rather for the Baker of the bread. Hope has been kindled in her heart again.
Ruth catches a glimmer in Naomi’s hope-filled eye and states, “Wherever you are going, I want to go. Your hope in the Bread-giver is the kind of life I want.”
I wonder about us. Do many people see the hope of eternal life in our eyes or only the despair of the moment?Do many people see the hope of an ever-present help in our time of need or only the helplessness of our current crisis? I dare say, my friend, let the hope be seen.
The inhabitants of this hopeless world need to see people who have hope. How this hope would attract people to our Saviour!
Think about it...