The book of Ruth illustrates the difference between those who step out in faith and take risks, and those who give in to fear, play it safe, and miss God’s best for them. The book begins with these words: ‘There was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife [Naomi] and his two sons’ (v. 1 NKJV).

Things went well for a while, then tragedy struck. First Naomi’s husband Elimelech died, and she was left with her two sons. They married local girls named Orpah and Ruth and then the sons died. Overwhelmed with grief, Naomi decides to return home to Bethlehem and advises her two daughters-in-law to stay in Moab and hopefully find husbands and raise families.

This is where the difference shows up in the two girls. Orpah decided to stay in Moab, even though it was a place of heartache and hard times. Why? Because it was the place she knew. It was her comfort zone. She didn’t have the faith to go forwards. Ruth was different. She said to Naomi: ‘Wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God, my God’ (v. 16 NKJV).

Orpah went back, Ruth went forwards. And it paid off. Back in Bethlehem, she met Boaz, her new husband. Not only was he wealthy, but he took good care of her, and they had a son from whom descended both King David and our blessed Lord Jesus. God rewards faith, not fear. So the word for today is – it’s time to break with the past and move forwards.