Ruth 1:16 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.

In this telling Naomi’s husband and two sons have died and she pleads with Orpah and Ruth to return to their birth mothers. Orpah leaves but Ruth remains with Naomi.

I bring you this story for one specific reason. When my oldest granddaughter was being prepared for her baptism into this life with Christ, the youth pastor tried to persuade her not to do it. I had never heard of this approach. It was not part of my preparation for baptism.

Naomi laid out several strong arguments for not remaining with her as she prepared to leave Moab and return to her family. The one thing she did not say to them was that they were Moabites by birth and would not be accepted.

Here is the “Good News” on full display. Our past does not disqualify us from being accepted into the family of God. Now let us hear Ruth plea to Naomi continue.

Ruth 1:17 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.

Now that is commitment. My granddaughter could not be persuaded because she, like Ruth, was committed. Praise God.

This Naomi approach of diswayment is unique and I will not recommend it nor advise against it.

The symbol of obedience in baptism is a new life in Christ, one of commitment which can lead the initiate to ask “Where to now?”

Naomi did not promise her daughter-in-laws anything. 11 But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? 12 Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, 13 would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.” 14 Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

Orpah gave Namomi the kiss of betrayal. or am I just projecting my own fears? I wasn’t given that choice in my baptism. I am not sure what my 15 year old self might have done if they had tried to disway me..

John 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

Jesus loves us perfectly. How can we ever expect to love one another perfectly? Loving us perfectly means understanding that and making a provision for that fact.

John 14:16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,

After Jesus sat down at the right hand of the throne He asked the Father to send the third person of the Trinity to be with us to help us love better than humanly possible. This is why it is so important to believe in the Trinity of God, God in three persons. He is always there for us if we will just listen.

Secondly understanding His role in our lives will help us understand what to expect and not to expect the Holy Spirit to act out of character. He is still God and as such will do no harm and will love us just as perfectly as the Father and the Son.

John 14

 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

1 John 3:17 how does God’s love abide in him?

God’s love abides in the heart, not the head.

Colossians 3:15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

He cannot rule in our hearts if we keep on deciding that it is our choice to love or withhold love.

The mind that chooses to love is not perfect in love. It is another type of love. Brotherly love for one another is a type that doesn’t have to be perfect to be genuine and needful. Familia love comes in all forms, traditional, clinical, and sedative. Not perfect parenting is difficult, but it is still love. Erotic love does not require marriage but God’s plan for mankind for marriage holds an element of erotic love, but is not limited by it.

God in His infinite wisdom saw the need for His love to dwell in us in order to glorify this relationship and draw the lost unto Himself. This is the great mystery of Christ that His perfect love cannot be contained. It compels us.