I Do.

Good Lord, today has been a long day. That's why this blog is coming in so late. But better late than never, right?

Today's verses are the ones I've been waiting for. The famous declaration of loyalty made by Ruth to Naomi:

But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me." When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her. Ruth 1:16-18

This is really hard for me to read, in all honesty. Ruth had such devotion to Naomi and to the Lord's will, that she was willing to make a declaration that sounds like a marriage vow to what she has agreed to do. In all intents and purposes, she is married to the Lord. She has no husband, no one to take care of her -- just Naomi as a companion -- but she is determined and her faith in the Lord is steadfast. There is not one ounce of doubt in her that what she is doing is the right thing.

Are we this "married" to God's will? Are we willing to stand before Him and say, "In sickness and health, for better or for worse, for rich or for poorer?" Are we willing to say, "Where You go I will go, where You stay I will stay... may You deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates You and me?" (And even then, if you are a true Christian, death will not be a separation but a beautiful union between you and the Lord.)

Have we made our marriage vows and entered into an everlasting relationship with the Lord, or are we idling away at the altar, perhaps showing off our engagement ring but refusing to walk down the aisle? God may call you to places that you don't want to go. He may call you to a lifestyle you do not want to live. But you have to be willing to say, "Yes Lord, where You go, I will follow." Know that He will use you wherever He takes you. He wouldn't bring you somewhere just to discard you and leave you to your own life. Ask Him to use you, and He will. Tell Him you will follow Him anywhere -- and keep to that promise -- and He will bring you to the highest place. The journey there will be hard. But in the end, it will all be worth it.