“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.”

Ruth 1:16-17

I’m sure you’ve heard this passage of scripture used in a wedding. These words of promise and commitment are sweet and wonderful.
These words were spoken by a Moabite woman named Ruth that married an Israelite man that had died. She spoke the words to Naomi, her widowed mother-in-law, who told both widowed daughter-in-laws to return home to their own mother’s home.
One did but Ruth refused.

The Torah said an Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the Lord; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the Lord forever. Deut 23:3-4
Yet this Moabite woman took Naomi into her heart along with God’s people.
Her story is one of redemption and restoration. This woman of Moab became the great-grandmother of King David.

No matter who you are or what you’ve done – God wants to redeem you and make you His very own. However, it takes a commitment from you to take Him into your heart and life.