"And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me" (Ruth 1:16,17).

The first great thing that we see in Ruth is that she was characterized by a commitment to the God of Israel—a commitment that involved a clean break from the land of Moab. This kind of commitment is absolutely essential in the life of believers, whether they be believers in Old Testament times, or they be Christians like ourselves.

I believe that this is where it begins if we are going to make progress in the things of God. That is, we need to have commitment to the Lord in regards to the Christian path. You know, there is so much today in the Christian profession that is lackadaisical and indifferent—the very opposite of being committed. I would intreat every one of us to get serious about our Christian life! We need to get before the Lord in regards to commitment in the path that the Lord Jesus would become more precious to our hearts, and it would evidence itself by commitment in our lives.

There was no half-hearted dabbling with Ruth. She didn't take up with the path of following Jehovah in a light way like we see all around us today in Christendom. She made a commitment that involved leaving Moab behind. And we do not read that she ever made any contact with Moab again! That's how thorough her choice for Jehovah was! She "burned her bridges" behind her. If you want to make progress in divine things, you need to "burn your bridges" behind you. We want to make a commitment to the Lord from which we will not go back. Commitment to the Lord involves a clean break from the world of which Moab is a type. A dear brother used to say, "I've never seen anyone get on in their souls who maintained a circle of friends outside the Lord's people." You may not like to hear that, but how true it is! If you have a fellowship of friends outside the Lord's people, it will slowly drag you down. With such people you couldn't possibly have the Lord's things as your mutual interest, because they don't know Him or want those things. So, it has to be something else—something other than Christ. May God give us the grace to break those links that are only going to hinder us. Ruth is our example!

Yet we do not see much real commitment among Christians today. We Christians seem to dabble in the Word of God. Christians today seem to want to keep one hand on the life they once lived before conversion, and one hand on the Lord's things, and it just doesn't work. They don't make progress. It is one of the greatest hindrances to going on, to going forward. What a privilege we have to walk by faith in the Christian path and bear the name of Christ before the world. May God give us to have that kind of commitment in our lives.

—Bruce Anstey