Who would you rather be?
I'm almost sure we're familiar with the Bible story of Ruth, the young widow who choose to stick with her Mother-in-law come rain or sunshine.
Every sermon I've ever encountered have always been centred on her, Ruth's POV ie. The sermons, exhortations, words of encouragement, ministrations etc etc were always about her; her devotion, sacrifice, selflessness and where it led her eventually (one of Jesus' ancestors). That's all good and fine and lovely. However, at the back of my mind, I always did wonder about the person of Naomi (typical curious me); who was she and what did she do to have evoked such devotion, such loyalty, such love (etc) from not one but two of her daughters-in-law, how did she interact with these ladies?
Mind you, she was a Jew and they, well, Moabites, the people they ordinarily wouldn't have relations or interactions with. So, how did she navigate their differences, so well that made these ladies to fall in love with her to the point of giving their (at least one person did) all for her? That, is the question.
Since I'm yet to hear a sermon on Naomi, I decided to write out the thoughts I'd formed about her over the years. Should this count as a sermon? *Coughs* I don't know, I'm simply sharing my thoughts😁. By the way, you can read up on this story here (please click), thank you.
So, I keep hearing about how we should be like Ruth, how she was this, she was that, well, how about Naomi, shouldn't we aspire to be like her too? Selfless, caring, magnanimous, and empathetic? Despite all that happened to her, here she was, still looking out for her daughters-in-law. She didn't try to hold them back, seeing as she was all alone in the world. She didn't think,
"who would take care of me, who will keep me company, who would give me grand children?"
Naomi had every right to be bitter about the hand, life had dealt her. She had every right to want to hold on to these two ladies, after all, they were now her daughters, her sons' wives. But no, she released them, she put their needs first before hers, she saw that they still had so much to live for and did not want to be an obstacle in their way, the one to hold them back, a cog in their wheel of progress.
She gladly released them and with her blessings, telling them she had nothing to offer. Orpah complied and left. I doubt that meant she loved Naomi any less or that Ruth who choose to stay, loved Naomi more. I bet if they were in our present clime where technology has made long distance communication possible, that they'd still be in touch.
Now let's look at Ruth, what a remarkable lady. I daresay, it takes a high level of selflessness or should I say self-sacrifice to do what she did. She literally left home and kin behind and stuck to Naomi, wow.
Now, was she constrained to do this? No
Was she coerced? No
Did someone come to preach to her about the blessedness of selflessness? No
This brings me to conclude that there just was something about Naomi that brought about such devotion from Ruth, such that would make her choose her over her own family and/or would be future happiness. What do you think?
So to answer my opening question, yes, I'd like to be Ruth. Even more so, yes, I'd like to be Naomi.
They're both remarkable, extraordinary women and I'd like very much to be like them. And I think we ought to encourage our daughters to aspire to be like both women. They both made exceptional sacrifices for the other, an example that I believe, is worth emulating.
Peace.
PS: I have a feeling that I'll be revisiting this story, this has quite evolved from what my original plan was; airing my thoughts. Now, I just might write a story (fiction of course) about these three women.
