But Ruth replied, “I will go if you really want me to, but it would make it so much easier if you just stayed here. However, where ever you do go, I promise to text, email and call you often. And wherever you decide to live, I will come and visit, as long as I have my own room. I hate sharing a room. As far as your friends go, well, they just aren’t my type. And that church you go to, sorry you’re on your own with that. I’m just not into the whole church thing.”

No, this is really not an excerpt of scripture from any translation of the Bible. It’s what I believe would be a more realistic response of Ruth’s conversation with Naomi if it took place today. It is no secret that we live in a very self-absorbed, self-centered, selfish, culture. Sacrifice is the furthest thing from many minds. But wouldn’t it be nice if people were less focused on themselves? What would that look like?

Sacrifice: An offering; to surrender or give up something for the sake of something or someone else. I think to some degree we as Christ Followers understand the meaning of sacrifice, but to live it out is a whole different concept.

Perhaps one could argue that Ruth had nothing to lose by going with her mother-in-law to Bethlehem. After all her husband had died, there was a famine in the land, and Ruth did not seem eager to re-marry. Those circumstances alone would cause anyone to pursue a better opportunity. But think about it. This was Ruth’s home. There was familiarity there. Her family and friends were there. Her roots were established there.

Yet, she willingly gave all that up to travel with her mother-in-law to unfamiliar territory and make a new life. She wasn’t asked to do anything. In fact, Naomi encouraged Ruth to stay in Moab. Do you see it? Ruth wasn’t asked to do anything. Is sacrifice making a little more sense now?

I have celebrated thirty-something Easters in my lifetime. Each year I am moved to tears when I reflect on what God sacrificed and what Jesus endured for me. It’s mind blowing sometimes. But this past Easter, something struck me. Jesus was never prodded or persuaded to die on the cross, He volunteered. He willingly submitted His life for ours. We know in His humanness He did not desire the torture He endured, but He did it. Jesus made the incomparable, ultimate sacrifice of all time.

The story of Ruth puts sacrifice in a more realistic perspective for me. Though she did not make the ultimate sacrifice like our Lord, she is an example of living out this concept in a practical way. Now here is Ruth’s real response:

“But Ruth replied, ‘Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.’ Ruth 1:16”

Much better don’t you think?