“The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!” (Ruth 2:12)
Naomi was in a quite hopeless position. She had moved to a neighboring country with her husband and sons, but all three of them had died. Naomi concluded: “the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me” (Ruth 1:20). Left alone with two daughters-in-law, she decided to move back to her home country. One of her daughters-in-law went with her.
This woman was Ruth. She was determined not to leave her mother-in-law alone: “May the LORD do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you” (Ruth 1:17). She left her family and her country and settled with Naomi in Bethlehem. There she worked hard to provide in their material needs.
Other people saw how much Ruth had sacrificed for her mother-in-law, and blessed her for it. One man especially noticed her: Boaz, a wealthy relative of Naomi. Eventually he married Ruth, they had a son, and so the story of two poor but loving women has a happy end.
How can you express love towards family members, especially if they are going through difficult times?