2 Widows & comm-I-tment

Is it just me or are we not willing to commit to anything? The idea of promising to join a group or be at a particular place at a particular time causes many of us to get nervous or worried. Rather than saying "yes" we'd rather say, "let me check my calendar" or "I'll have to get back to you on that." Sometimes we really DO need to check our schedule. Other times we're HOPING that something will intervene to keep us from having to say yes and nail down our time, our money, or our allegiance.

I enjoy writing. But even making it to this blog on a regular basis can be difficult. (I just noticed it has been 2 weeks since I was here last! And the last time I blogged, I had a couple of other topics I was going to write on.)

I'm not suggesting this to fire up any guilt in particular, I'm just making an observation about us. Well, at least me. I'm not trying to make you COMMIT to such a statement.

I recently came across one of my favorite stories about commitment. It is about a woman named Ruth. She is living in a foreign land with her husband's family. Her husband dies. Ruth is still relatively young. Her mother-in-law, Naomi, who is quite elderly, tells Ruth to go back home to her family and start a new life. (Naomi has recently lost her husband, and two sons, one of which is Ruth's husband.)

But Ruth is committed to Naomi. She makes it plain that her mother-in-law can count on her, no matter what. "Don't try and get me to leave you," Ruth says. "Wherever you go, I will go. Wherever you make your home will be home for ME. Your family will be MY family. Your God will be MY God. Where they bury you, they'll have to bury me too."

These two widows begin to watch some pretty amazing things happen. A distant relative of Naomi, Bo, takes note of this commitment. It really impresses him. He happens to be quite wealthy and takes a liking to Ruth.

He takes them in, marries Ruth, and the fortunes of all three change forever.

I wonder what it would take for me to be committed to really important things. I wonder what might happen if I determined in my heart, and by God's help, that I'd give priorty to people and things of greatest significance.

I wonder when I'll back to this blog again.