Ruth

Ruth and Naomi (http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/66000/66065/66065_ruth_naomi_lg.gif)

  There are only two books of the Bible named for women, Esther and Ruth. Ruth is the testimony of ultimate loyalty. The widowed Moabite had to make a choice; return home to the life she knew, or leave everything she knew for her mother-in-law. In Ruth 1: 16-17 it says "Where you go I'll go, where you stay I'll stay, your people shall be my people, and your God my God." Here she gave up everything she knew and returned to Israel with Naomi.

 Ruth gave the life she'd known her whole life to an unknown land. She collected grain from the fields of Naomi's distant relative, Boaz. Since both her and Naomi's husbands died, there was no one to look after them. According to Jewish law, they had to take care of themselves, so she followed the harvesters and picked up the leftover grain for them to eat. She lived with Naomi in the town of Bethlehem after leaving her home land of Moab. Living well before the time of Christ, she would not have known of the Fruits of the Spirit, but she greatly displayed faithfulness. She kept faithful to her mother-in-law, even if Naomi had little to give her in return.

She was later married to Boaz, gave birth to Obed, the father Jesse, the father of King David, therefore becoming the great-grandmother of King David. She is an outstanding example in teaching me the meaning of loyalty. She showed me that true loyalty can take you anywhere, do anything. Her story is a perfect example of how God knits us into His perfect story.

'Ruth Gleaning', James Tissot, 1896 (http://www.bible-art.info/1896JamesTissotRuthGleaning.jpg)