Counting the Cost - True and false conversions
Ruth 1:14-18 And they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. Then she said, 'Behold, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; return after your sister-in-law.' But Ruth said, 'Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. 'Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me.' When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.
Orpah left. Decided it wasn't for her! She had promised to come back with Naomi earlier but when she learnt of what it may be like she decided to do the 180 degrees and go back to her own people. And sadly this is what happens with many so-called Christians today. They come to the Lord (well, they come to the front of the stage) but where are they a few days later? No one ever sees them again. Or they may stay for a while, springing up quickly like the word says, yet when persecution or hardship comes they leave the faith for a life more comfortable (Matt 13:3-9, 20-21). But not our Ruth. In Ruth we have an awesome picture of a true conversion. Even when others are leaving around her Ruth states in utter dedication and commitment:
'Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. 'Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me.'
That has got to be one of the greatest utterances of commitment in the entire Old Testament! Having counted the cost Ruth was willing to give up all that she knew and loved to follow Naomi, and Naomis' God. What is the quality of the commitment that Jesus asks of us today? Notice I didn't ask about the quantity of our commitment, but the quality. This is what Jesus is interested in. Jesus said that those that want to follow Him must take up their cross. So what does it mean to carry your cross? Obviously it speaks of death. Not many endured the cross and lived! Well, none actually. But death to what? Two things come to mind - death to your right to control your own life and death to your own ability to live the Christian life. We will see both of these attitudes displayed further in the book of Ruth. This is the 'quality' commitment to the Lord Jesus that He requires.