Ruth makes a marvellous commitment to Naomi, and we see three marks of this loving commitment in her words.

Love commits to God. “Your God [shall be] my God” (1:16). Ruth is saying, “I have watched you love your God through three losses. I have felt His love through your love. What I have seen, I want for myself. So, your God has become my God.”

Love commits to God’s people. “Your people shall be my people” (1:16). This would not have been easy for Ruth. Naomi was going home to her own people. Ruth would arrive as a foreigner. But Ruth was determined to embrace the people of God.

Love commits forever. “Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried” (1:17). Ruth’s faith does not depend on Naomi. Ruth’s faith is her own, and she is saying, “God will be my God, even when you die.”

Where does this kind of love come from? It comes from Jesus. He committed Himself in love to God’s will. He committed Himself in love to God’s people. And He committed Himself in love to us forever. He said, “I’ll come and live where you live, and die where you die.”

But it did not end there. He rose from the dead and He says to us today, “Wherever you go, I will go. I will never leave you. I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

What do you know of this kind of love? If you want to know more of it, look to Jesus.