Power Point - May 3, 2006

May 3, 2006

 

But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the LORD do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.”

 

--Ruth 1:16-17

 

The scene we witness above is one of the great confessions of faith in all of the Bible and in all of history.

 

Here, on the road to Bethlehem, Ruth accepted God’s grace. He had brought her to the road to Bethlehem… and she was persuaded in her faith, even though her own mother-in-law said, “Turn back.”  

 

Orpah, Ruth’s sister-in-law, came to the crossroads with her and cried and wept and was full of emotion. But she turned on her heel, and she went back into Moab and died without God. 

 

Ruth came to that same crossroads at Bethlehem, and she clung to her commitment. And as a result, her entire life was changed forever. 

 

You know, that’s what commitment to Christ really is. It’s not fence-straddling. It’s cross-bearing! Jesus said, “It’s not always going to be easy. If you’re going to follow Me, take up your cross… don’t take the easy way… take up your cross and follow after Me.” 

 

Friend, today I challenge you to make your commitment to God total and final! Get rid of the escape clauses, the fine print, and the footnotes on the contract of your commitment to Him.

 

A COMMITMENT TO CHRIST IS NOT FENCE-STRADDLING… IT’S CROSS-BEARING!