February 12

Ruth 1:16
“And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God”— Ruth 1:1616And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: (Ruth 1:16).
FOR Ruth there was nothing in Moab. It had been to her but a great graveyard. Now bereft of every human prop, she turned to the God of Israel for help, and cast in her lot with His poor, weak handmaiden, Naomi. Her decision was the first step toward bringing her into the royal line from which the Messiah was to come. She seemed to be renouncing all that was worth-while. She really had nothing to lose but everything to gain.
“He took away the love of those
Whom I had loved so well,
And what it cost my grieving soul
No word nor pen could tell.
But as I leaned against His heart,
Wounded and crushed and sore,
I deeply drank of truer love
Than I had known before:
A love that knows no selfish aim,
That trials cannot kill,
That chides me for my faults, ah, yes,
But keeps on loving still.
Dear Lord, in Thine omnipotence
Thou surely couldst recall
My many sins of yesterday,
Remind me of them all.
But love like Thine delights to cast
Them in the deepest sea,
And will remember them no more
Through all eternity,
Earth holds so many hungry hearts,
To men be this the sign
That we are Thy disciples, Lord,
Give us a love like Thine.”
—Barbara C. Ryberg.