friends

A remarkable picture of surrender is found in the image of Ruth. She lived in Moab with her husband, until he died. It was then that Naomi, her mother-in-law, decided to return to Bethlehem. She urged Ruth to stay in her own land where she was known and where she would have the greatest opportunity of provision via covenant marriage. Naomi knew that Ruth's following after her might not be the best thing for Ruth-after all, she would be leaving all she knew to surrender her life and be loyal to the covenant commitment she had made to Naomi's son and give up the promise of her own future to care for another. Regardless of the implications, Ruth begged to go with Naomi, saying "don't beg me to leave you or to stop following you. Where you go, I will go. Where you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God."
This kind of loyalty is rare and priceless. Ruth bound herself to Naomi out of Covenant, regardless of what might be lost for her. When all natrual reason shouted for Ruth to remain where she was and not follow Naomi, she rebelled against the norm and surrendered her life to serve another. Her decision to do so was anchored in relationship and rewarded with blessing. Ruth's affection and commitment to Naomi was undeniably abnormal in the eyes of the world. It was also crazy to think that she would give up her own life to serve another. But more than that, the depth of relationship between these two women was what motivated Ruth's surrender. It is the picture of Lovingkindness-the verb of Covenant, the lavishing action of binding yourself to another-not in word alone, but in heart and in deed. In surrendering and losing her life, we know that she actually gained it. For, it was in that moment of surrender, giving her life in relationship to another that God blessed her and gave her a future and a hope in Christ.
Most people miss this remarkable truth. That when we bind ourselves one to another, laying down our lives for one another, we don't actually lose, but rather gain. It is in serving one another and entering into Covenant relationships that we will find ourselves driven to deeper surrender than if we had journeyed alone. It is in loving deeply and surrendering fully that we will exalt our Savior and glorify a God that blesses those who make the holiness of another as important as their own. It is in giving your life away, that you truly find what life is for.
These two women, bound their hearts together and because of their loyalty, commitment, desire for the other's well being more than their own and faithfulness to Covenant, they find themselves written about for all of history to see as the picture of giving your life to another and receiving more than you could ever have imagined in return.
We should all be so blessed to have a friend like this. ALL FOR YOU